2007 Korean Film Box Office Annual Review
By all accounts 2007 was a year that has been difficult one for the Korean film industry where it seems that the golden years of the Korean film industry has passed. Rising costs have meant it is more challenging to make a profit. A recent study by KOFIC (Korean Film Council) estimated that while in 2006, the average film earned 77% of its budget in 2007, this dropped significantly to 39% in 2006. To make things look little better, only 10 films broke even with 2 million admissions or more. However, although 2007 saw a drop in theatrical admissions – the first in 11 years – it is still the second highest on record at 157 million. After all, you can’t keep on bettering last year – the stock markets of late are clear proof that there will be a point where things slow down. But, the market share of local films dropped to 50.8% - a 27.5% drop from last year and there has been an increase from 58 million admissions for non-Korean films in 2006 to 77 million in 2007.
There are a variety of reasons for this. Some argue the lack of originality in the Korean film industry at present – there are too many commercial films that are hitting the screens. The rising fees demanded by stars are seen as another problem with them earning $600,000 a film for men and $400,000 for women. This may not be Hollywood where they demand millions, but Hollywood films do of course have much bigger budgets – the average Korean film has a budget of $6.5 million, but this has increased from $5.4 million in 2006. Indeed stars are not necessarily bringing in the cash, which is proved by looking at the failure of Restless 중천 (中天) starring Jung Woo-sung (정우성) and Kim Tae-hee Kim (김태희), or look at Hwang-jin-lee (황진이) starring Song Hye-Kyo (송혜교). And finally, investors such as KT Telecom and SKT telecom have seemed to throw money at the industry expecting big returns.
Hwang-jin-i (황진이) directed by Jang Yoon-hyeon (장윤현) failed to hit gold at the box office despite the star presence of Song Hye-kyo (송혜교) (above) and Yoo Ji-tae (유지태)
Whilst, I do agree with this – it is difficult not to, I don’t think it warrants a doom and gloom outlook. But there is no doubt that Korea is turning into the classical Hollywood era with its fully integrated conglomerates such as Lotte and CJ, rising star fees and large quantity of films that were released in 2007. But it is only a matter of time before this collapses with a more refined and successful industry. These factors will need to change and this only has to be a positive thing. Although I do believe there have been too many Korean films that have been released and some have been very disappointing, I don’t agree that the quality has completely dissipated. Even Hollywood style films such as The Show Must Go On (우아한 세계) by Han Jae-lim (한재림) show quite the opposite and indeed 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워), which broke into the 10 most successful films of all time. However, that said; it is clear that some films have had too much focus on commercialism rather than quality. Lets have a closer look at 2007 to expand on this. Where have the successes been and where has it failed? To help you, a preliminary list is compiled below.
The Top 10 Korean Films of 2007
| Name of Film | Total Number of Admissions | Total Gross ($) |
| D-War (디 워) (Showbox) | 7.8m | $52.5m |
| May 18 (화려한 휴가) (CJ Ent) | 6.9m | $46.8 |
| 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) (Showbox) | 6.2m | $38.6m |
| Voice of Murderer (그놈 목소리) (CJ Ent) | 3m | $18.7m |
| Le Grand Chef (식객) (CJ Ent) | 2.9m | $20.2m |
| Miracle on 1st Street (1번가의 기적) (CJ Ent) | 2.6m | $16.4m |
| Going by the Book (바르게 살자) (CJ Ent) | 2.2m | $14.8m |
| Paradise Murdered (극락도 살인사건) (MK Pictures) | 2.1m | $14.1m |
| A Love (사랑) (Lotte Ent) | 2m | $14.4m |
| Seven Days (세븐 데이즈) (Prime Ent) | 2m | $14.4m |
The year started off well with the success of 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) (it was released in December, but its release carried on into the new year), which explores the highly popular, but controversial subject of plastic surgery. Directed by Kim yong-wha (김용화), it sees this emergence of young directors that have been influenced by Hollywood. The films comparisons to Hollywood hit, Shallow Hall are inevitable, but whilst it has some similarities, it does seem to tackle the often not talked about subject of plastic surgery. In Pusan, Kim Yong-wha (김용화) told me “whilst you can always change the outside, you can never change the inside.” He also sighted his influence form Hollywood directors such as the Coen brothers and Han Jae-lim (한재림) (director of The Show Must Go On (우아한 세계 )) told me the inspiration for that film lies with The Godfather.
200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) directed by Kim yong-wha (김용화) starring Kim Ah-joong (김아중) & Joo Jin-mo (주진모) became the third biggest Korean hit for the year.
The Restless (중천 (中天)) was a big disappointment in January (also released in December and its release took it into January) not even breaking $10 million despite its high profile cast and aggressive marketing from CJ Entertainment, but even the soundtrack sounded awful.
February saw another hit – Voice of Murderer (그놈 목소리). But its success it largely down to its surprise opening of 972,620 ($6.1 million) admissions on 472 screens. It then began to cool down, which suggests the film directed by Park Jin-pyo (박진표) and starring Seol Kyeong-gu (설경구) wasn’t the film people were expecting, but it did go on to make 3 million admissions ($18.7m), which isn’t half bad.
February was a strong month for Korean films – in addition to Voice of Murderer (그놈 목소리), 3 stood out: Miracle on 1st Street (1번가의 기적) directed by Yoon Je-kyoon (윤제균) and starring Im Chang-jeong (임창정) & Ha Ji-won (하지원), Highway Star (복면 달호) directed by Kim Hyun-soo (김현수) & Kim Sang-chan (김상찬) and A Good Day for an Affair (바람 피기 좋은 날) directed by Jang Moon-il (장문일). The former went on to be the 6th most successful Korean film making 2.6 million ($16.4) admissions
Miracle on 1st Street (1번가의 기적) directed by Yoon Je-kyoon (윤제균) and starring Im Chang-jeong (임창정) & Ha Ji-won (하지원) was one of the rare examples of 2007 where stars still have appeal for its audiences.
March was a month, which was dominated by Hollywood film 300 – apparently a hit with Korean older men. Although only released on 380 screens, it took the box office by storm with 748,203 admissions ($5m) in its first week. Although Miracle on 1st street (1번가의 기적) was still going strong in March, Hollywood and other non-Korean films dominated it. The other Korean films on show, such as Big Bang (쏜다) written and directed by Park Jeong-woo (박정우) and Soo (수) directed by CHOI Yang-il (최양일) failed to ignite and thus flopped. Though Small Time Rivals (이장과 군수) written and directed by Jang Gyoo-seong (장규성) brought some needed light at the end of the month, which went on to be relatively successful in April.
April was a brighter month with the successful Paradise Murdered (극락도 살인사건) written and directed by Kim Han-min (김한민) , which went on to make 2.1 million admissions ($5.6 million) and the release of the Show Must Go On (우아한 세계 ) helped things, though it did slip down the box office a little too quickly for my liking. Not quite sure why, given the presence of Song Kang-ho (송강호) on very fine form and to be honest, it is a great film. But April was marked with the failure of Beyond The Years (천년학) directed by the one and only Im Kwon-taek (임권택). It remained in the top 10 for 1 week making merely 51,917 admissions ($342,000), though it was only released on 186 screens. This is quite a contrast to the success of Sopyonjee, which became the most successful film of all time when it was released in 1992. In an interview, I had with him at Busan he told me:
“One of the reasons Beyond The Years (천년학) wasn’t so successful at the Korean box office; was because the film contains a lot of meanings and the characters didn’t have a description. People should really think about what was going on. But the Korean audiences don’t really like it now - that was one of the reasons it failed.”
Beyond The Years (천년학) directed by Im Kwon-taek (임권택) and starring Jo Jae-hyeon (조재현) & Oh Jeong-hae (오정해) was plagued with funding problems, yet it still became one of most impressive films of the year despite its very disappointing run at the box office.
He seemed to dwell on this and it would be interesting to see if he can make another film. It was a real shame the film wasn’t successful, since it has to be one of the finest films of the year.
Other Korean films that were released include Meet Mr Daddy aka Shiny Day ( 눈부신 날에) directed by Park Kwang-soo (박광수) starring Park Shin-yang (박신양) , which failed to go anywhere other than down the chart quite quickly, however there was better news for My Tutor Friend Lesson 2 (동갑내기 과외하기 레슨 II) directed by Ji Kil-woong (지길웅) & Kim Ho-jung (김호정), which made $3 million in 2 weeks.
May saw the launch of the Spring/Summer Hollywood blockbusters with Spiderman 3 dominated the charts for the most part, at least until Pirates of The Caribbean: At Worlds End was released at the end of the month. However, as ever Korean, films were out in force; two of which stand out. The first being the commercial Unstoppable Marriage (못말리는 결혼) directed by Kim Seong-wook (김성욱) and starring Ha Seok-jin and Yoo-jin, which went on to make over 1 million admissions ($8.1m). The latter is of course Lee Chang-dong’s Lee Chang-dong (이창동) Secret Sunshine (밀양). Although, not commercial in nature – quite the opposite – Jeon Do-yeon (전도연) win at Cannes evidently made an impact since it went on to make over 1.5 million admissions ($10.5m).
Secret Sunshine (밀양) written and directed byLee Chang-dong (이창동) sent
Jeon Do-yeon (전도연) on to the world stage.
The Hollywood films such as Shrek The Third and Transformers again dominated June and July, but there was some relief from Hwang-jin-lee (황진이) and Black House (검은 집) directed by Sin Tae-ra (신태라) and starring Hwang Jeong-min (황정민) , but neither of which performed extremely well – particularly the former. June also saw the release of Never Forever (두 번째 사랑) written and directed by Gina Kim (김진아), which was the first Korean-American film to hit the screens, which opened on 77 screens and faired relatively well on its opening week with a screen average of $2.958.
The close of July saw the release of May 18 (화려한 휴가) directed by Kim Ji-hoon (김지훈) and starring countless names including Kim Sang-kyeong (김상경,) Ahn Seong-gi (안성기) & Lee Joon-ki (이준기), which made over 1 million admissions ($9.7m) in its first week and as we have seen, it became the second hit of the year, even though it seems to be somewhat overlooked. In the following week, the record breaking of D-War (디 워) written and directed by Shim Hyung-rae (심형래) of almost 2 million admissions ($18.8m) in its opening weekend beat this. These films seemed to bring some confidence back to the industry that had been battered by the Hollywood competition over the last 3 months and then began releasing Korean films like there was no tomorrow in August, which included The Worst man of My Life (내 생애 최악의 남자) directed by Son Hyeon-hee (손현희), Changing Partners (지금 사랑하는 사람과 살고 있습니까?) directed by Jeong Yoon-soo (정윤수), Underground Rendezvous (만남의 광장) directed by Kim Jong-jin (김종진) and unsuccessful remake Swindlers in My Mothers House. Whilst Changing Partners (지금 사랑하는 사람과 살고 있습니까?) and Underground Rendezvous (만남의 광장) broke a million admissions ($8m) (this still means they make a loss though), the remanding two failed to even hit this mark.
D-War (디 워) written and directed by Shim Hyung-rae (심형래) became the most successful film of the year in South Korea generating 7.8 million admissions ($52.5m)
May 18 (화려한 휴가) directed by Kim Ji-hoon (김지훈) became the second most successful Korean film of the year almost hitting the 7 million admissions mark ($46.8m).
September was a mixture of failures and successes for Korean film. My Father (마이 파더) directed by Hwang Dong-hyeok (황동혁) and starring Daniel Henney, The Two Faces of My Girlfriend (두 얼굴의 여친) directed by Lee Seok-hoon (이석훈), The Mafia and The Salesman (상사부일체 - 두사부일체 3) written and directed by Shim Seung-bo (심승보) were all failures, particularly the latter. It would seem films of this calibre are losing their touch, though Kidnapping Granny (권순분 여사 납치사건) directed by Kim Sang-jin (김상진) on the other hand, which has similar commercial character faired much better generating 1.5 million admissions ($10.3m), though you have one of Korea’s funniest actresses playing the central role as granny, Nah Moon-he (나문희). The biggest success of September was A Love (사랑) directed by Kwak Gyoung-taek (곽경택), which did very well generating 2 million admissions ($14.4m), but you could argue it only broke even – at least it didn’t make a loss.
A Love (사랑) written and directed by Kwak Gyeong-taek (곽경택) starring Joo Jin-mo (주진모) & Park Si-yeon (박시연)
Happiness (행복) directed by Heo Jin-ho (허진호) soon followed starring Lim Soo-Jung and Hwang-Jeong min, but failed to generate the success one would like with two big names – it made almost 1.2 million admissions ($8.4m). The same thing happened for M (엠), only even worse. On 449 screens on its opening weekend, it didn’t even reach 250,000 admissions ($1.6m) despite the star presence of Kang Dong-won and Kong Hyo-jin and of course director Lee Myeong-see Lee Myeong-se (이명세) at the driving seat. It exited the box office after two weeks on barely 400,000 admissions ($2.8m) – oh dear! Perhaps it will have more appeal on the International Market, as did his other films such as Duellist (형사) (2005) and Nowhere to Hide (인정사정 볼 것 없다) (1999).
Both Happiness (행복) andM (엠) failed to meet expectations - M (엠) in particular was a box office disaster
Other films that hit the cinemas in October were Shadows in the Palace (궁녀) written and directed by Kim Mi-jeong (김미정) and Going by the Book (바르게 살자) directed by Ra Hee-chan (라희찬), which both did fairly well generating 1,250,000 ($9.7m) and 2.1 million admissions ($14.9m) respectively. It is important to note that Punch lady (펀치 레이디) written and directed by Kang Hyo-jin (강효진) opened on 240 screens, yet it opened in 10th place at just under 22,000 admissions ($158,250) for the weekend (October 26 -28). On this note, it is also worth mentioning that whilst it is often to see high profile films to take all the screens, October saw a remarkable share for each film in the top 10.
November saw the release of Le Grand Chef (식객) written and directed by Jeon Yoon-soo (전윤수), which went on to make 2.9 million admissions ($20.2.m) and therefore became the 5th most successful film of the year and Seven Days (세븐 데이즈) directed by Won Sin-yeon (원신연) and starring Lost star Kim Yoon-jin (김윤진) , which was also released in November made 2 million admissions ($14.4m). It was also a month, which seemed to be an international month where the success of Lust, Caution was making the headlines and films from all over the world seemed to be hitting the charts, from as far asIsrael (Butterfly On A Wheel), Ireland(Once), France (La Vie En Rose) UK (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Germany (The Black Dahlia), Japan (Hero) and not to mention Hollywood (Beowulf), but Le Grand Chef (식객) and Seven Days (세븐 데이즈) kept their heads up high despite the international competition on show. But there is always going to be some kind of flop somewhere along the lines, and Scout seemed to be fail miserably leaving the charts after two weeks on only 270,000 admissions ($1.8 million) even though it stars Im Chang-jeong, which goes on to prove that stars don’t necessarily guarantee cash. Bank Attack (마을금고연쇄습격사건) directed by Park Sang-joon (박상준) also didn’t do very well - perhaps this is a little un-original. The synopsis goes like this: Someone who has never done anything wrong in his life; decides to rob a bank to save his sick daughter.
Le Grand Chef (식객) written and directed by Jeon Yoon-soo (전윤수) became the biggest Korean hit since D-War (디 워)released in August making 2.9 million admissions ($20.2m)
December was a very busy month which saw 6 new Korean films released, and two released in the weekend November 30 – December 2, not to mention Le Grand Chef (식객) and Seven Days (세븐 데이즈) still going fairly strong. With the Hollywood films firmly set in their place for the Christmas season - I am Legend, The Golden Compass and National Treasure: Book of Secrets – it inevitably meant that the box office was a little crammed to say the least. Good news for the public as they were spoilt for choice, but not good news for the distributors who were hoping for some Christmas bonuses. The first Korean victim was My Eleventh Mother (열한번째 엄마) directed by Kim Jin-seong (김진성) - the title says it all really – didn’t even make 350,000 admissions and was resigned to making 333,337 admissions ($2.8m) in its last week in the top 10. Our Town (우리 동네) directed by Jeong Gil-yeong (정길영) followed a similar route despite opening on 284 screens, as did Venus and Mars (싸움) written and directed by Han Ji-seung (한지승) , which was a very big disappointment for Cinema Service. Opening on 403 screens, it made 236,328 ($1.2 million) after its first weekend and was out of the charts by the third week. Hansel & Gretel (헨젤과 그레텔) directed by Lim Pil-seong (임필성) unfortunately performed in a similar fashion; only it slipped out of sight by the 2nd week (140,455 admissions/$942,574). Miss Gold Digger (용의주도 미스 신) directed by Park Yong-jib (박용집) went along the same lines (267,065 admissions/$1.8m after its first week – it was not seen again) and Mask aka Rainbow Eyes (가면) directed by Yang Yoon-ho (양윤호) didn’t even make 150,000 admissions in its first week. My Love (내 사랑) directed by Lee Han (이한) performed slightly better – please don’t confuse it to A Love (사랑) by Kwak Gyeong-taek (곽경택) - making 933,603 admissions ($6.4 million). Most notably however, there was some relief in the form of Sex is Zero 2 (색즉시공 시즌 2) directed by Yoon Tae-yoon (윤태윤), which made almost 2 million admissions ($13.7m) as it entered the New Year, so it shows that commercial sequels are still appealing to a certain extent.
Sex is Zero 2 (색즉시공 시즌 2) directed by Yoon Tae-yoon (윤태윤) stars Im Chang-jeong (임창정) (Above - far left) who has been in 4 films in 2007: Miracle on 1st Street (1번가의 기적), Scout (스카우트), Underground Rendezvous (만남의 광장) and of course this film.
To summarize the year of 2007 for Korean film - it is easy to get lost – it started off well with the success of 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워) and continued to a lesser degree with Voice of Murderer (그놈 목소리) and Paradise Murdered (극락도 살인사건), but as the summer was on the horizon, Hollywood films dominated the box office and therefore forced Korean films to remain dormant until May 18 (화려한 휴가) and D-War (디 워) arrived. A subsequent wave of Korean films emerged, though these were largely unsuccessful at least until A Love (사랑) brought some life back. The industry was then plagued by more failures and mediocre successes such as M (엠) and Happiness (행복), however Le Grand Chef (식객) and Seven Days (세븐 데이즈) prevented the industry was looking very bleak even though December was a month associated with Korean flops.
December is a strong example and case study as to why the Korean film industry is facing problems – there is simply too much product. You can see from some of the titles that originality, quite often associated with Korean film has gone out of the window, but there are many films during the year where this is not the case with hits such as Paradise Murdered (극락도 살인사건) and May 18 (화려한 휴가). Alarming however is the rejection of Im Kwon-taek’s (임권택) 100th film, Beyond The Years (천년학) – perhaps it has a future on the International market. The success of Secret Sunshine (밀양) especially given the realistic nature of he film demonstrates how an award can seriously increase sales. Indeed the domestic industry has felt the pressures of the Screen-quota reduction, which is clearly evident from the bombardment of Hollywood films. But Korean audiences seem to be enjoying them – most notably Transformers (7.4 million admissions/ $50.5 million). Yet, Korea has had blockbusters of their own, which have been equally successful – D-War (디 워) (even though it is in the English language for the most part) and May 18 (화려한 휴가) have been extremely successful. But out of the top 10 films released in Korea during 2007, only 4 of them are Korean, compared to 6 last year, though a Korean film remains at the No. 1 spot.
But as I have pointed out, whilst many are taking a pessimistic view and it is easy to do so, these problems the industry face will only lead to a positive outcome. With fewer films on the agenda, there will be more money in the pot and more time spent on films that will work, rather than releasing a lot of rubbish. That said, to say Korea has lost all its originality is wrong, since it is still releasing films that are highly original even if they are films that don’t seem to be a real hit with viewers. But paradoxically, with the success of commercial films such as D-War (디 워) , A Love (사랑) , 200 Pounds Beauty (미녀는 괴로워), it is going to mean they are going to release more and more commercial films, but it is about finding films that work commercially whilst not losing that Korean touch.
Sources: Screen International
KOFIC
hancinema.net