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- Korean Film News
- Korean Films Top 100 Million Viewers for 4th Straight Year
- by Pierce Conran / Dec 07, 2015
- Strong 2nd Half Gives Local Industry Market Edge
For the fourth consecutive year, Korean films have surpassed 100 million viewers at the local box office. The mark was breached on November 29th as four local films topped the charts, Inside Men, The Priests, YOU CALL IT PASSION and THE SOUND OF A FLOWER. The milestone was reached faster than last year (December 23rd) but slower than both 2012 (November 20th) and 2013 (October 5th).Korean films struggled for much of the early part of the year, with Ode to My Father (released in 2014, 8.92 million viewers in 2015) leading the way until Detective K : Secret of the Lost Island (3.87 million viewers) performed well during the Lunar New Year holiday, while many high profile films disappointed on the charts.Things took a turn in summer, first with the success of Northern Limit Line (6.04 million viewers) and later with Assassination (12.7 million viewers) and Veteran (13.42 million viewers) both soaring to the top of the charts. The Throne (6.26 million viewers) kept local films on top over Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day) and local thrillers have successively opened in first place since late October.Currently, The Priests and Inside Men are both angling to finish well over the five million admissions mark before the year’s last major releases (The Tiger and The Himalayas) open in mid-December.Overall, the industry is expected to welcome 200 million viewers for the third straight year at some point this month. On December 1st, Korean films accounted for 80% of all sales, bringing the yearly local market share to 51%. The 229 local films released this year have so far earned revenues of USD 677 million.
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