The highly sought-after K-anime, Byupoem↑, and theater MOU... The hot issue is [First Half Year Review - Movies]②

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(Seoul=UD News) Reporter Jung Yoo-jin = The first half of the year saw a continued downturn in theaters. Unlike last year's first half when "Parasite" and "The Shameless 4" each attracted over ten million viewers, giving hope, this year's most successful work could only manage to attract around 3 million cumulative viewers, making it difficult to draw audiences. Moreover, at the 78th Cannes Film Festival held in May, Korean films failed to enter the competition section for three consecutive years, and apart from the Cinéfondation invited film "First Summer" (directed by Heo Ga-young), no other Korean films were invited, adding weight to the argument of a "crisis in Korean cinema." Despite the overall gloomy atmosphere, signs of change were also observed. K-animation, which received recognition for both its artistic value and technical skill, performed well amidst the crisis, and a new distribution company, Byfourm Studio, achieved remarkable results with unique strategies during the drought. Additionally, the second and third largest multiplex chains, Lotte CultureWorks and Megabox JoongAng, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to merge, aiming to save the theaters.

◇ Rise of K Animation

The animated film "Exorcism Chronicles," released in February this year, attracted over 500,000 viewers. "Exorcism Chronicles" is an occult blockbuster that depicts the beginning of a grand saga where exorcists with special abilities confront absolute evil. Based on the novel of the same name by Lee Woo-hyuk, who wrote "Iuh Hyuk" which sold over 1 million copies cumulatively since the 90s and is known as the 'K-Occult Bible,' this animation has captivated not only fans from the 40-50 age group but also those in their 20s and 30s, forming a fandom. Since the pandemic, animations have shown strength in theaters. Films like "The First Slam Dunk" (4.9 million), "Suzume's Door-Locking" (5.57 million), "Elemental" (7.23 million), and "Inside Out 2" (8.79 million) have demonstrated the growing popularity of Japanese and American animations. Recently, there has been an increase in attention towards animations produced and planned in Korea. A notable example is "Love Hachipang," which was released last August and attracted over 1.24 million viewers.

This year, a domestic animated film has garnered attention. It is "King of Kings" (directed by Jang Sung-ho), set to be released on July 16th. The animation, which covers the life of Jesus, was produced by Mopa Studio, the production company of director Jang Sung-ho, who also directed it. This animated film first opened in North America, earning box office revenue of $60 million (approximately 815.82 billion won), before its release in South Korea. This figure surpasses the box office success of Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite." Not only "King of Kings," but also the animation "This World Needs" (directed by Han Ji-won), released on Netflix last month on the 30th, received global acclaim from viewers for its artistic visuals, story, music, and narration by Kim Tae-ri and Hong Kyung. Additionally, the short animation "Glasses" (directed by Jung Yu-mi), which was invited to the Critics' Week, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival this year, hinted at the rise of the K-anime genre with its status as the only Korean work selected. ◇ 위기판의 다크호스? 바이포엠스튜디오

The presence of distributor ByPoeMS Studio was also prominent in the theater industry. ByPoeMS Studio distributed a variety of genre works this year, including "Hitman 2," "It's Okay It's Okay It's Okay!," "The Match," "Virus," "Noise," and "Song of the Sun." Among these, "Hitman 2" accumulated over 2.54 million viewers, while "The Match" drew over 2.14 million viewers, ranking second and fourth respectively among Korean films released this year. ByPoeMS Studio, which entered the film business as the main investor in the film "Empathy" (2022), experienced a successful box office run with the film "Firefighter," which surpassed the break-even point after its release in December last year. The company released an impressive six films in the first half of the year. This number is significantly higher compared to the same period releases by major distributors in Korea such as CJ ENM, Lotte Entertainment, Megabox Central, Showbox, and NEW.

In addition, 'Firefighter' and 'Match' are noteworthy as works that carried risks due to the actors' personal life issues. Being a company initiated by the new media-focused advertising agency PoemsToStory, ByPoemsStudio has strengths in viral marketing compared to traditional investment distributors. The industry observes that the marketing capabilities of ByPoemsStudio were utilized in the unexpected success of these two risky projects. Furthermore, ByPoemsStudio’s strategy of choosing medium-sized films with clear target audiences, which can be more effective in marketing, is also praised for shining in crisis situations. ◇ Lotte and Megabox MOU

One of the major news items in the first half of this year for the theater industry was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the merger between Megabox JoongAng, a multiplex chain, and Lotte CultureWorks. On May 9th, the two companies announced their MOU, stating that "through the merger of the two companies, we aim to strengthen the competitiveness of existing theaters and film businesses, expand new businesses, and inject vitality into the domestic film industry, which has been depressed since the pandemic." Although the merger plan between the second and third largest companies in the industry, which could be seen as indicative of the crisis facing Korean cinema, also evoked a sense of urgency, there is reason to look forward to the synergy between the two companies, given that a crisis can also become an opportunity.

eujenej@news1.kr

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