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| ▲ Posters of Korean action comedy "The Roundup: No Way Out" are displayed at a theater in Seoul on June 11, 2023. (Yonhap) |
Korean movies-box office
Korean movies' box-office share dips below 20 pct in May
SEOUL, June 12 (Yonhap) -- The market share of Korean movies at the local box office fell below 20 percent last month as they continue to grapple with a lack of hit films, industry data showed Monday.
Korean films drew 2.29 million moviegoers in May, accounting for 19.5 percent of the total audience, according to the data compiled by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
Their box office sales stood at 21.6 billion won (US$16.7 million), 18.2 percent of the total.
The share was the lowest ever for May since KOFIC began compiling box-office data in 2004, except for the 2020-2022 period, when the movie industry was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The number of viewers Korean movies garnered last month was only 34 percent of the average admissions for May from 2017-2019, far below the corresponding figure for foreign movies that recovered to nearly 90 percent of the pre-pandemic level.
Last month, Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3" topped the box office with 3.94 million admissions, followed by American action film "Fast X," also known as "Fast & Furious 10," with 1.62 million admissions.
Korean movies have posted sluggish performance so far this year, but the ongoing popularity of action comedy "The Roundup: No Way Out," released on May 31, is expected to raise their share this month.
The sequel to "Roundup" (2022) exceeded 7 million admissions Saturday, the 11th day of its release, becoming the first film this year to cross the milestone at the local box office.
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