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Irish music film Once was recently re-released to mark the 10 year anniversary of its first release in Korea (September 20th, 2007). In its first outing it surpassed 200,000 moviegoers which was rare for a diversity film. This year, its re-release also drew a considerable audience of over 27,000 viewers. In fact, the first release of Once exceeded box office projections as no one had expected the Irish, low budget independent film to do so well. However, positive word of mouth brought box office success, as well as fame to Glen Hansard, the musician the film was based on. Moreover, the film became a catalyst for street performance fever in Korea. 

In the decade since the release of Once, the box office power of music films has been stronger than expected and John Carney, the director of Once, seems to be at the center of this trend. His romantic comedy Begin Again became the most successful music film in Korea, bringing 3,328,309 moviegoers and his latest film Sing Street also did well, luring 560,622 moviegoers. Meanwhile the movie industry has deemed the releases of August Rush and Whiplash extraordinary successes. Despite the fact that it lacked any famous stars, Kirsten Sheridan’s August Rush managed to become a big hit at the Korean box office attracting 2,218,573 viewers while Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash was also a hit with Korean audiences, bringing in 1,589,048 moviegoers. MUSIC & LYRICS also found major success in Korean theaters. In addition, other music films that have had meaningful box office performances include the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis which drew an audience of 105,592, Taiwanese film Secret which attracted 99,106 viewers, musical documentary Searching for Sugar Man which brought in 28,689 viewers and biographical drama I’m Not There which admitted 26,117 attendees.