The Korean film industry faced a challenging month in June as the animated blockbuster “Inside Out 2″ from Disney and Pixar continued its impressive run at the box office. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korean film industry faced a challenging month in June as the animated blockbuster “Inside Out 2″ from Disney and Pixar continued its impressive run at the box office, according to data released by the Korean Film Council on July 10.
Total cinema attendance for June reached 11.33 million, marking a 22% decrease (3.19 million) compared to the same month last year. This figure represents 64.1% of the average June attendance (17.68 million) from 2017 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overall box office revenue fell by 25.1% (36.4 billion won) year-on-year to 108.8 billion won, which is 72.9% of the average June revenue (149.1 billion won) from 2017 to 2019.
However, foreign films performed exceptionally well, with attendance increasing by 54.1% (2.76 million) compared to June 2023, reaching approximately 7.87 million viewers. Revenue for foreign films rose by 48.5% (24.8 billion won) to 76 billion won.
The Korean Film Council attributes this success largely to “Inside Out 2,” which opened on June 12 and attracted 5.64 million viewers. The animated sequel captured nearly half of the total box office revenue for the month, with a 49.9% market share.
In contrast, Korean films saw a sharp decline, with attendance plummeting by 63.3% (5.96 million) year-on-year to 3.46 million. Revenue for domestic films also dropped by 65.2% (61.2 billion won) to 32.7 billion won.
Korean films accounted for just 30.5% of total attendance and 30.1% of box office revenue in June, significantly trailing behind foreign films. This marks the first time since July 2023 that domestic films have ceded market dominance to foreign productions in both attendance and revenue.
The Korean Film Council explained that while blockbuster Korean films like “The Roundup” and “The Roundup: No Way Out” were released in mid-May in 2022 and 2023, respectively, impacting June box office figures, this year saw “The Roundup: Punishment” released in late April. Additionally, there were no other major Korean hits in theaters during June.
Among Korean films released last month, only “Hijack” starring Ha Jung-woo and Yeo Jin-goo managed to surpass the 1 million viewer mark, attracting 1.08 million attendees.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
