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- Korean Film News
- APES Korea Date Change Rocks Local Distributors
- by Pierce Conran / Jul 09, 2014
- Early Hollywood Pic Bow Stirs Up Release Calendar
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, one of the most anticipated July releases around the world, moved up its Korean release date from July 16th to 10th at short notice, leaving local distributors in disarray. Company reps for films already slated for release on the 10th claim that the move will have negative repercussions for their films, as smaller releases will see their theater counts slashed.Following the date change announcement on July 4th, Main Title Pictures and the Korean Film Producers Association (KFPA) released statements expressing their discontent with the sudden reshuffle. The KFPA said the abrupt date change for such a major release went against the business ethics of the local industry and that the implications would be serious.Main Title head Edward Chang-eon LEE expressed his rage at the news, as his company had been working hard to release their title Sabotage, a new Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner. The film has now been pushed back to July 24th. Other films affected by the change include Ju-on: The Beginning of the End, the latest in the Japanese horror franchise, and local noir Confession, which moved up its release a day to Wednesday, July 9th.Officials from 20th Century Fox Korea claimed that their plan was always to release Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on July 10th, to coincide with it US release on the 11th. The July 16th date was set as they feared they would not pass the local censors’ board in time.In the days ahead of its opening, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes topped the reservations charts and looks set to win the coming weekend, where it will go up against the second weekend of local action-thriller The Divine Move and the third frame of blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction. The first installment in the rebooted franchise, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, was a hit in Korea in 2011, accruing 2.78 million admissions.
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