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CJ CGV – Korea’s largest cinema chain – recorded a 64.7% market share for Korean films in 2006, confirming the Korean Film Council’s (KOFIC) earlier announcement that local films had exceeded the 60% market share mark for the first time. KOFIC’s definitive box office figures for 2006 are expected by the end of January. The high market share coincides with the unprecedented release of 108 domestic films.

CJ CGV also reported that ticket sales went up for the tenth consecutive year. A 14.6% increase at the box office resulted in 166 million admissions. It’s the third highest box office total in history and the fifth year of continuously increased cinema attendance.

The highest attendance record for a single film was set twice in 2006. BONG Joon-ho’s The Host set the bar high around 13 million tickets, surpassing LEE Jun-ik’s King and the Clown before the year was over. Tazza: The High Rollers (dir. CHOI Dong-hoon) and My Boss, My Teacher(dir. KIM Dong-won) also distinguished themselves commercially. 20 Korean films topped the 2 million admissions mark.

Independent low-budget films are on the rise too. Sponge successfully opened film houses and CJ CGV announced the opening of more smaller cinemas for independent films asa result of the success of their screens for independent cinema.

The down-side of 2006 was a decrease in international sales and with the record number of releases, many films failed to break even. Also, several expensive star-vehicles performed disappointingly.

Foreign films were lead by Hollywood. Based on attendance numbers at Seoul cinemas, CJ CGV reports a 35.6% market share for Hollywood films. Films from other nations trailed with Japan ranking third with 2.3%.

Yi Ch’ang-ho (KOFIC)