Last year the box office saw mix results as a clearer picture is emerging of where the industry is heading. Total admissions hit 123.13 million in 2024, a 1.6 percent drop on the previous year while box office revenue declined by 5.6 percent compared to 2023 with 1.19 trillion won ($815.7m). More concerning is that admissions are 45.6 percent down on pre-pandemic levels (compared to 2019) as streaming platforms have transformed viewing habits.

But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, Korean films saw a market share of 58 percent, a close to 10 percent rise on 2023. There were also eleven Korean films that broke even close to double the amount of films seen in 2023 when only six Korean films turned a profit. While in the 2010s blockbusters during the peak seasons of the lunar new year, summer, Chuseok and end-of-year have been instrumental in the industry’s growth, in a post-pandemic ecosystem, films are performing well during off-peak seasons such as Exhuma (2024) and The Roundup: The Punishment (2024) released in February and April, respectively.

Interestingly, as many as eight of the titles to break even were budgeted at under 10 billion won, which included Citizen of a Kind (2024), Pilot (2024), Escape (2024), Handsome Guys (2024).

As we look to the high-profile titles released this year, much attention will be on whether they can connect with audiences. This includes films released in cinemas like Holy Night: Demon Hunters and Night Fever, while it also features films financed by streaming platforms led by Netflix (The Great Flood, Lost in Starlight). This week we profile seven films that are released over the coming year.

Holy Night: Demon Hunters

Production Companies: Big Punch Entertainment, Nova Film

Director: Im Dae-hee

Cast: Don Lee, Seohyun, David Lee, Kyung Soo-jin, Jung Ji-so

Release Date: April 30

Distributor: Lotte Entertainment

Having wrapped up production in June 2021, Im Dae-hee’s Holy Night: Demon Hunters was one of dozens of features that saw its release schedule affected by the pandemic. Most of these films have now been released – Nam Dong-hyeop’s Handsome Guys and Kwak Kyung-taek’s Firefighters similarly saw significant release delays but ended up performing well in cinemas last year.

Holy Night: Demon Hunters follows a team played by Don Lee, Seohyun, David Lee who are equipped with special skills and come up against a group that worships demons. Embracing his muscular persona, Don Lee’s character, Bau, has powerful fists, while Sharon (Seohyun from K-pop group Girls’ Generation) has a supernatural gift that enables her to locate demons and can perform exorcisms. The pair are assisted by Kim-kun (David Lee). It also stars Kyung Soo-jin as a psychiatrist.

The film marks Im Dae-hee’s feature debut. Im has had an interest in shamanism since his time at university and has made short films on the subject including Hongunjiki Un-Knot (2004). Given the success of occult thrillers like Exhuma, there is evidently a trend in Korean cinema at the moment, but this film doesn’t appear to be too dark.

In an interview with the director for Cine21, he said “I wanted to start with a film that many viewers can enjoy. That’s why I completed the film by maximizing the entertainment elements with actor Don Lee, who is an expert in this field.”

Number One (Working Title)

Production Companies: Semicolon Studio, Studio Double M

Director: Kim Tae-yong

Cast: Choi Woo-shik, Jang Hye-jin, Gong Seung-yeon

Distributor: BY4MSTUDIO

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Kim Tae-yong’s Number One sees the director collaborating with Choi Woo-shik once again after starring in his feature debut Set Me Free (2014), Choi’s first leading role in a film.

Adapted from the first short story in the Japanese omnibus novel You Have 328 More Meals Left to Eat at Your Mother’s house, it centers on a young man (Choi) and the dish he eats prepared by his mother (Jang Hye-jin). Each time he consumes her homemade meal, he realizes it’s one less he is able to cherish. Both Jang and Choi also starred in the Oscar-winning film Parasite (2019) as mother and son.

Some of the original story was changed to incorporate the local cuisine and backdrop with the meal changed from a curry, an important home-cooked meal in the original to a Gyeongsang Province beef stew. The story’s Japanese setting was moved to two different locations: Seoul and Busan. Kim was born in Busan and it’s Choi Woo-shik’s first role speaking in the unique Busan dialect.

Although Kim’s other films are tonally quite bleak delving into the complex emotions of his characters, this appears a bit brighter. Speaking to Cine21 he said, “as I passed my 30s, my perspective on the world become more forgiving. Now I wanted to make a warm drama.”

The Great Flood

Production Company: Hwansang Studio

Director: Kim Byung-woo

Cast: Kim Da-mi, Park Hae-soo

Streamer: Netflix

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Set in an apartment complex during a great flood that affects the whole planet, it follows an AI researcher (Kim Da-mi) and a member of a human resource security team (Park Hae-soo) who is trying to save her and her child (Kwon Eun-song).

The film directed by directed by Kim Byung-woo is his first film since Take Point (2018). He made his directorial breakthrough with The Terror, LIVE (2013) that pulled in over 5.5 million viewers despite stiff competition from Snowpiercer (2013).

This would be the latest Korean disaster film following a number of films over the years; from Haeundae (2009) to titles such as Tunnel (2016), Exit (2021) and Sinkhole (2021). Like Concrete Utopia (2023), much of the film takes place in an apartment block. In an interview with Cine21, Kim explained his reasons for setting the film in such a location: “An apartment is a space with many interesting points. The upper, lower, and next-door apartments all have the same structure, but when you go inside, each home unfolds into a different world. Each apartment is an independent universe. The environment changes depending on the history and circumstances of the residents.”

It's Kim’s first Netflix project and will be streaming on the platform later on this year.

YADANG: The Snitch

Production Company: Hive Media Corp.

Director: Hwang Byeong-guk

Cast: Kang Ha-neul, Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-joon

Distributor: Plus M

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Helmed by director and seasoned actor Hwang Byeong-guk, YADANG: The Snitch is his sophomore feature following S.I.U. (2011). Yadang refers to insiders who leak information about criminals dealing narcotics. In the film it focuses on the relationships between the Yadang, police and prosecutors amidst a dangerous conspiracy involving high profile figures.  

In casting the film, the director said “because we needed actors with a wide range of acting skills, who are good at conveying emotions and can show everything from innocence to darkness” Kang Ha-neul was cast as a member of Yadang, while Yoo Hae-jin was brought on as a prosecutor. Chae Won-bin whose profile has skyrocketed after her acclaimed performance in the drama Doubt (2024) was also cast in the film as an actress. The director said although she was little-known at the time of her audition, she showed a “performance that I had never seen before.”

Night Fever

Production Company: Hive Media Corp.

Director: Kim Pan-soo

Cast: Woo Do-hwan, Jang Dong-gun, Lee Hye-ri

Distributor: Plus M

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Entirely shot in Thailand using many of the local staff that worked on Deliver us from Evil (2020)–  produced by the same production company Hive Media Corp -  Kim Pan-soo’s feature debut Night Fever (2025)  features rising star Woo Do-hwan (Bloodhounds) as a former boxing champion who is seeking to clear his name and seek revenge after he is accused of murder and gets embroiled in a drug-smuggling case in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. The film was co-written by Woo Min-ho (Inside Men (2015), Harbin (2024)) and also stars Jang Dong-gun and Lee Hye-ri.

Speaking about the film’s action set-pieces, Kim said in an interview with Cine21, “rather than refined action, I thought that wild and rough action sequences would be more fun when many characters get entangled. The car chase was also shot randomly and roughly so that the audience could strongly feel the tension of the story.”

On the director’s thoughts why he shot in Thailand, “I wanted to tell the hottest story. I wanted to choose a place where the action, the characters’ emotions, and the situation were all intense and where that kind of energy would explode, and after much thought, I decide to go to the hottest place on earth.”

Lost in Starlight

Production Company: Climax Studio

Director: Han Ji-won

Voice Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Hong Kyung

Streamer: Netflix

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Han’s second feature is a film about a long-distance relationship when a young woman (voiced by Kim Tae-ri) is chosen to be one of the astronauts for a project on Mars. She leaves behind a musician (voiced by Hong Kyung).

The director has made several animated shorts including The Sea on the Day When the Magic Returns (2022) that was invited to the short film program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2023. Han also directed the 60-minute animation The Summer (2023) that screened at London Korean Film Festival.

Speaking to Cine21, Han said “if this work is a cosmic film, it’s not because there are scenes set in space, but because it is a work that looks at Earth as space itself. There are many vocal songs, all of which are newly composed music, and some of them were recorded by Hong Kyung himself.”

My Daughter who Turned into a Zombie (Translated title)

Production Company: Studio N

Director Pil Kam-sung

Cast: Jo Jung-suk, Lee Jung-eun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Yoon Kyung-ho and Choi Yu-ree

Distributor: NEW

Release Date: TBA (2025)

Based on the popular Naver webtoon My Daughter is a Zombie that was serialized between 2018 and 2020 by Lee Yun-chang, it takes place after a zombie apocalypse and centers on a father played by Jo Jung-suk whose daughter (Choi Yu-ree) is the last remaining zombie on earth. The film also stars Lee Jung-eun and Cho Yeo-jeong from Parasite, while it also features Yoon Kyung-ho who is in ever-increasing demand (The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call (2025), Doubt (2024) making it an intriguing cast.

Although the K-zombie genre is now firmly established following Train to Busan and the series Kingdom (2019-2021), director Pil (Hostage: Missing Celebrity (2021) seeks to inject it with its own character. In an interview with Cine21, he said “the scenes where zombies run rampant in the city only appears briefly in the introduction” echoing the original. He added, “rather than large-scale scenes, I focused on properly expressing the detailed scenes of everyday life, and the scenes where the boundary between horror and comedy is ambiguous.”

He continued, “we also added small humorous points here and there in a way that reflects the characteristics of each occupation. The choreographer who created the zombie choreography for several films including Train to Busan participated in our production.”

Like the other films highlighted here, audiences in Korea can expect to see it sometime in 2025.

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Editted by Eunha Shim