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Much of the discussion at the Busan International Film Festival as well as the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM) was on the crisis in the Korean film industry. The word “crisis” has often been associated with the industry as it’s weathered numerous storms; from censorship and a significant decline in sales in the 1970s to the bursting of a production bubble in the 2000s. Each time the industry has bounced back demonstrating its resilience – the 1980s laid the seeds for the birth of the contemporary era born in the 1990s, and the 2010s saw admissions hit record-breaking numbers with local admissions surpassing 120 million in 2013.

Still, this current crisis feels protracted and concerning. Korea’s box office revenue was 1.91 trillion won ($1.36 billion) in 2019 with admissions hitting 200 million between 2012 and 2019. Local market share was consistently at least 50 percent, but Covid-19 forced people to stay at home as streaming platforms led by Netflix were able to take advantage of social distancing. While some films were released and there were moments where it felt that the industry was staging a recovery with the success of The Roundup films, by the end of 2024 the reality was clear – admissions were 45 percent down on 2019. 

For the first half of 2025 it was even worse with admissions down 32.5% on 2024 and box office revenue declining 33%. It did improve in August with My Daughter is a Zombie (2023) selling 1.87 million admissions on its opening weekend and it went on to attract a total of 5.6 million viewers making it the most successful title of the year thus far. Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice (2025) also performed strongly on its opening weekend with 1,073,657 viewers in September, but the reality is stark – total admissions for 2025 are projected to not even hit 100 million.

At the Busan International Film Festival, Park told Variety  “I think that it’s not so much the crisis of cinema. It’s a crisis of the movie theaters.” He went on to say, “But I also think, in turn the crisis of the movie theaters is actually, in fact, the crisis of cinema.”  

This week we examine the theatrical ecosystem amidst little sign of a sustained recovery beginning with film festivals, then turning to theatrical windows, low-mid-sized budget films and finally international co-productions and overseas markets.  

Film Festivals

Streaming has been at the forefront of many festivals this year as they attempt to navigate the complexities of what is a rapidly evolving ecosystem. Netflix had a sizeable presence at Busan this year with both dramas and films in the selection. Guillermo del Toro was in town with his new film Frankenstein (2025) and was present at a Creative Asia event held by Netflix in collaboration with the festival. Maggie Kang also spoke about her global hit KPop Demon Hunters (2025) that continues to perform well on the platform.

Venice also had three Netflix films in competition including Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite (2025), Frankenstein and Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly (2025)- all of which screened in Busan - as the streamer seeks to make an impact on the Awards Circuit.

The Cannes Film Festival has had a more complex and fraught relationship with the streamers after it decided to ban Netflix films from competition following objections by French exhibitors to the inclusion of Bong Joon Ho’s Okja (2017) and Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) that competed for the Palme d’Or.

One of the reasons why streamers are keen to send their films to festivals is because they do create buzz for titles, often an ideal launching pad, not least for features seeking to enter the awards race. For Korean films being released theatrically the film festival platform remains essential both domestically and internationally. Some of the highest grossing Korean films overseas like Parasite (2019) and Train to Busan (2016) premiered in Cannes, while Venice remains a key event with Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice having its first press and festival screenings there. The rave reviews in Venice and the attention it generated on social media helped give it that needed boost opening in Korea ahead of the long Chuseok (thanksgiving) holiday.

Although streaming platforms were clearly very visible in Busan this year, it was a year where there was a central focus on some of its changes to the competition and vision sections providing a spotlight on Asian directors such as independent filmmaker Zhang Lu whose new film Gloaming in Luomu that won Best Film.  Young Korean directors also were present – Han Chan-lok won the Special Jury Award for his energetic film Funky Freaky Freaks (2025) as the festival keeps to its roots of discovery and nurturing the next generation of filmmakers, which is also evident through its links to Korea’s film schools. Han’s award-winning film is a K-Arts (Korea National University of Arts) production.

The industry can take comfort in the strong attendance numbers at this year’s Busan film festival underlining the importance of the event even in the face of immense challenges. Total admissions of 175,889 marked an increase of approximately 20,000 compared to the previous year while the Asian Contents & Film Market saw a 13.5% increase in attendance with 30,006 attendees.

Theatrical Windows

The issue of theatrical windows is likely to be a central factor in how the theatrical ecosystem evolves in the streaming era. It’s been a debate that has continued to spark much discussion since Netflix entered Korea’s industry with one of its first projects Okja that was barred from screening at Korea’s multiplexes as it was a day-and-date release.

Both Disney and Warner Bros. attracted controversy when they released their films in theaters and online with titles such as Black Widow (2021) and Dune (2021). They have since backpedaled but it speaks to what is in many respects a sensitive issue. Theaters would like longer windows, but streamers and studios (that own streaming platforms) are keen on shorter windows. Netflix, for instance, in April decried the 15-month window in France between a film’s release in cinemas and its availability to subscribers despite investing in French production. Disney+ managed to secure a nine-month window in France through a deal with local guilds in which it agreed to invest 25% of its net sales back into the French content industry. Rather tellingly the drop in box office gross in 2024 compared to 2019 in France was just 12.8% - compared to Korea’s much larger drop of close to half.

Korea doesn’t have clearly defined theatrical windows that there are in countries like France. This was discussed when the head of France’s National Film Board CNC, Gaëtan Bruel, was on a panel at the Bucheon International Film Festival (BIFAN) in July comparing the French and Korean film industries. There he argued that longer holdbacks in France had been a factor in audiences returning to cinemas.

In North America where there continues to be much debate on this topic, box office revenue in 2018 hit close to $11.9 billion when there was a 90-day window. In 2024, it was $8.75 billion with the window now shortened to 45 days. While it certainly doesn’t paint a full picture, it does illustrate how streaming has impacted theatrical windows and the effect this has had on box office revenue.

Lower Budget Films – The Ugly (2025)

During the 2010s Korean blockbusters turbocharged the film industry with many films like Roaring Currents (2014), Assassination (2015) and the two-part Along with the Gods (2017) pulling in millions of viewers. This era appears to have ended at least for now with big-budget films such as Alienoid (2022) – consisting of two-parts - falling significantly short of expectations.

In their place are more modest-sized budget films. It’s a double-edged sword as these titles are not able to attract the numbers blockbusters can leading to a large drop in overall admissions. But it does mean the industry is returning to the kind of films that Korea had become synonymous with on the global stage in the 2000s - low-to-medium budget films. Blockbusters have generally been targeting local audiences.

An interesting example, though ultra-low budget, is Yeon Sang-ho’s The Ugly (2025). Known for his tentpole features Train to Busan (2016) and Peninsula (2020) he has decided to go to the other end of the spectrum budgeted at just 200 million won ($142,000) for his latest. He was able to keep the budget low in part because the cast agreed to be paid a lower daily rate with the promise of a backend share of the profits.

The film stars Park Jeong-min, Kwon Hae-hyo, and Shin Hyun-been about a man who attempts to uncover the mystery surrounding his mother’s death. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and has sold over 900,000 tickets in what is a commercial success for the title. It was also pre-sold to 157 countries.

Other lower-budget films that have struck a chord include the horror film Noise (2025) that accrued 1.7 million admissions during the summer while seven out of the ten titles that broke oven in 2024 were budgeted under 10 billion won such as Handsome Guys (2023) and Pilot (2023).

International Co-productions & Overseas Markets

To try and offset the loss of revenue in the domestic market, the local studios are concentrating on international co-productions, English-language projects and films targeting overseas territories. CJ ENM co-produced Oscar nominated Past Lives (2023) and the Save the Green Planet! (2003) English-language Remake Bugonia (2025) directed by Yorgos Lanthimos that was invited to the Venice Film Festival competition. In an illustration of both the importance of overseas markets and the appeal of Korea’s auteurs, Park Chan-wook’s No Other Choice was able to cover its production costs before its theatrical rollout in Korea owing to pre-sales – it was sold to 200 countries including North America, UK and France.

Casting high-profile Non-Korean actors is also evident in upcoming projects – Na Hong-jin’s Hope will star Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander alongside Hwang Jung-min and Zo In-sung. Don Lee will also produce and star in the English-language film Pig Village together with Michael Rooker, Colin Woodell and other US actors. It’s backed by Korean studio Plus M Entertainment.

Kim Jee-woon’s international co-production The Hole features British actor Theo James and Squid Game star Jung Ho-yeon along with Christian Slater and Yeom Hye-ran. Produced by Kim’s Anthology Studio, Amazon MGM’s Orion Pictures secured worldwide distribution rights to the title and there are plans for a theatrical rollout.

It was also announced earlier this year that Lee Jung-jae’s production company Artist Studio signed a planning and development contract with the UK’s Imaginarium Productions to develop a global K-pop espionage feature film, Secret Idol (working Title).

 With interest in Korean and Korea-related content showing little sign of subsiding, collaborating with overseas partners is inevitable. The challenge, of course, is that streamers are already well positioned to capitalize on Korea’s global appeal as seen with KPop Demon Hunters but the local industry is having to adapt and rapidly. 

Written by Jason Bechervaise

Edited by kofic