Forgot password

 

New records were set across the board as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, following Korean cinema’s biggest year ever. According to statistics from the Korean Film Council, 213.31 million tickets were bought at theaters throughout 2013, with 127.27 million of those going towards local fare. Both figures constitute new records, topping last year’s 194.89 million and 114.61 million, respectively. The domestic market share reached 59.7%, just up from last year’s 58.8% and only behind 2006’s 64.4%.

 

While one film crossed the vaunted 10 million admissions mark (Miracle in Cell No. 7) and another two went over nine million viewers (Snowpiercer and The Face Reader) the industry’s record year was the result of a broad array of hits. In the final top ten for the 2013, there were nine local films, also a record for the industry. The only outlier, at number four, was Hollywood’s biggest hit of the year, Iron Man 3, which grossed USD 1.22 billion worldwide.

 

North Korean spy films had a big showing as The Berlin File and Secretly Greatly came in at numbers five and six. The late year hit The Attorney made its way onto the top 10 on the very last day of 2013 as it jumped right up to number seven and pushed Brad Pitt’s zombie blockbuster World War Z off the chart. The last three spots were held by thrillers Hide and Seek, The Terror, LIVE and Cold Eyes.