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| ▲ This file photo shows a promotion material of 'The First Slam Dunk' found at a theater in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, provided by Walt Disney Company Korea, shows a poster for 'Titanic: 25th Anniversary.' (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Yonhap) -- The Japanese animated sports film “First Slam Dunk” has been leading the so-called “retro craze” in South Korea by racing toward accumulating a whopping 3 million moviegoers.
With the Japanese animation taking the top spot, James Cameron’s epic romance film “Titanic,” which returned to the big screens 25 years after being retouched as a 4K 3D version, also made a strong showing at the Korean box office
“The First Slam Dunk,” which picked up right where the legendary manga series left off, has attracted over 2.945 million moviegoers as of Monday since its release on Jan. 4. The movie has been securing first place for 19 days since Jan. 27.
It marks the first time in six years for a Japanese anime that hit Korean theaters to hit 3 million viewers since “Your Name.,” which accumulated a total of 3.67 million moviegoers in 2017. The film was also recently named the third most-viewed Japanese animated film released in Korea, following “Howl’s Moving Castle” (2004, 3.01 million admissions). It is also scoring big in terms of domestic cumulative sales by reaching 30.3 billion won, which goes far beyond the sales of “Your Name.,” which amassed 29.5 billion won.
“The First Slam Dunk” has been staying atop the local box office for more than two weeks by stimulating the nostalgia of those in their 30s and 40s who can reminisce about reading the manga series as teens.
According to data released by CGV, those in their 30s accounted for 35.4% of the viewers, followed by 40s (28.6%), making up 64% in total. There also has been a steady surge among viewers who are in their 20s, bumping up from mid-1)% to 23.5%.
Men used to account for 64% of the opening weekend crowds, while 36% of them were female moviegoers. However, the numbers took a flip, with 52.5% female and 47.5% of them being male moviegoers.
It is the fact that Takehiko Inoue, the cartoonist of the original manga series, also wrote and directed the film himself has been the key selling point that is contributing to the rise of expectations for the work. The unexpected shift in the main protagonist, from the red-haired Kang Baek-ho to Song Tae-seop, who is also dubbed the short bodyguard, has also been piquing their curiosity.
Not many predicted this animated film to be such a smash hit; however, with the power of word-of-mouth, which significantly grew after the film’s release, tens of thousands of Korean moviegoers visited the theaters to watch the film on weekdays, contributing to the steady incline in the cumulative number of admissions.
A CGV official said, “The unusual success of ‘The First Slam Dunk’ is largely due to the ongoing expansion of admissions,” adding, “The film may have kicked off by gathering the manga series’ fans who are in their 30s and 40s. However, its long-term success is highly attributed to the attention it gathered among female moviegoers in their 20s.”
With the film scoring big on nostalgia, it led to a surge in sales of the original manga series – the anime reportedly sold more than 1 million copies as of Monday.
Meanwhile, James Cameron’s “Titanic” hit the local theaters once again on Feb. 2, boosting the retro fever at the box office.
James Cameron has brought one of his mammoth hits, which was released in 1998, back to theaters. The epic romance can be enjoyed on a larger screen with the latest cinematic technologies, bringing the box office juggernaut back on big screens.
The film proved its fame once again and touched down in second place, accumulating more than 278,000 admissions nationwide during its opening week. It particularly attracted those in their 10s and 20s, as they could not or have not watched the original work in theaters. Teens accounted for 18% of the crowd, and 34.5% of them were in their 20s, accounting for 52.5% of the total. Meanwhile, 21.6% of them were in their 30s.
It is notable that teens accounted for a mere 2.6% of the viewers of James Cameron’s ongoing smash hit film “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which is being acclaimed for its overwhelmingly exquisite high-tech visual arts and cutting-edge cinematic technologies.
Some analysts say that the success of James Cameron’s second venture of the Avatar franchise also induced more to visit theaters to watch the director’s earliest mammoth hit, “Titanic: 25th Anniversary,” which is widely acclaimed as his best-selling work.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by Ha eun Lee)
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