Korean Movie Box Office Slump... October Audience and Revenue Hit This Year's Lowest

Total Theater Revenue Decreases by 5.9 Billion Won

A view of a theater in Seoul. Yonhap News

Last month, the performance of Korean films was the weakest so far this year. On the other hand, foreign films saw an increase in audience numbers compared to last year.

According to the October film industry report released on the 22nd by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), the number of viewers for Korean films last month was 3.07 million, a decrease of 28.6% (1.23 million) compared to the same month last year. Revenue also dropped by 26.9% (11.3 billion KRW) from the same month last year, totaling 30.8 billion KRW. Both audience numbers and revenue were the lowest of the year.

This decline is attributed to the lackluster box office performance of new Korean films released last month. The October releases 'Daedosi-ui Sarangbeop' (The Love Law of a Big City) attracted 770,000 viewers (7.3 billion KRW in revenue), 'Botong-ui Gajok' (Ordinary Family) drew 550,000 viewers (5.1 billion KRW), and 'Amazon Hwalmyeongsu' (Amazon Herbal Medicine) managed only 160,000 viewers (1.3 billion KRW). Prior to these, 'Veteran 2', released in September, attracted 1.02 million viewers (9.9 billion KRW), ranking first in the overall October box office.

Foreign films attracted 3.21 million viewers last month, an increase of 23.3% (610,000) compared to the previous year. Revenue also rose by 21.3% (5.4 billion KRW) to 19.1 billion KRW. Although popular franchise series were released, the response was not as strong as expected. 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' drew 1.01 million viewers (9.8 billion KRW), and 'Joker: Folie ? Deux' attracted 610,000 viewers (6.4 billion KRW). KOFIC analyzed that "both films failed to surpass the box office performance of their predecessors."

The top-grossing independent and art film last month was the re-released 'Notebook', which attracted 154,395 viewers and earned 1.5 billion KRW. The highest-grossing Korean independent and art film remains '6 Hours Later, You Will Die', which drew 45,561 viewers and earned 477.65 million KRW.

The total number of moviegoers in theaters last month was 6.28 million, down 9.0% (620,000) from the same month last year, and total revenue was 61.5 billion KRW, a decrease of 8.8% (5.9 billion KRW).