4 big-budget Ok-movies in theaters don’t impress audiences : The DONG-A ILBO

Whereas the vibes of fall have simply develop into apparent to us, there appears to be a wintry chill within the air on the field workplace. Since 4 new blockbuster Ok-movies had been launched for the summer time season, probably the most profitable interval in a yr, their gross sales haven’t met elevated expectations of the market. Dumbfounded at mediocre efficiency on the field workplace, main distributors appear reluctant to resolve when to launch a protracted line of closely invested films which have piled up for the reason that pandemic started.

As of Thursday, ‘Confidential Task 2: Worldwide’ was the one blockbuster with a web manufacturing value of greater than 10 billion received, which was confirmed to be launched this fall (scheduled on Sept. 7). Just some low-budget movies comparable to ‘Sincere Candidate 2’ and ‘Life Is Stunning’ (scheduled on Sept. 28) wait to be premiered quickly.

Solely ‘Hansan: Rising Dragon’ reached a break-even level with a complete of 6.82 million audiences as of Wednesday among the many 4 pricey Ok-films presently in theaters together with ‘Hunt,’ ‘Emergency Declaration’ and ‘Alienoid.’ Nevertheless, it has not lived as much as all the thrill. Even earlier than ‘Hansan: Rising Dragon’ was first launched, critics had excessive expectations of the forthcoming movie probably promoting greater than 10 million film tickets. In actual fact, it acquired optimistic critiques for some time proper after its launch. Added to this, ‘The Admiral: Roaring Currents,’ previous to ‘Hansan: Rising Dragon,’ introduced in 17.6 million moviegoers, making it the most-watched movie in Korean cinema historical past. Nevertheless, it has not turned out to be as profitable as anticipated.

The disappointingly poor report card on the field workplace this summer time could also be attributable to the continued COVID-19 pandemic and too costly film tickets, which can have restricted moviegoers to only some movies that they resolve to observe selectively.

Movie distributors appear shocked by lack of enthusiasm on the field workplace as they’ve deliberate to make use of the 4 large gamers as an consideration gatherer and lead audiences to a long-awaited pile of blockbusters this fall. “As audiences will not be pleased with a much less affordable ticket value than earlier than, they appear to have a brutally crucial view of any film that they discover disappointing,” mentioned a movie distributor. “We discover it laborious to remain assured sufficient to launch any movie on the lengthy ready checklist until it is rather extremely more likely to be a mega hit.”

“If any of the 4 promising movies had turned out to be a hit, we distributors would have confidently chosen what’s the subsequent this fall,” mentioned one other business insider. “The truth is that even ‘Hansan’ solely ended up with a mediocre quantity, leaving many of the market discouraged.”

Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com