"Hollywood Goliath" is coming... Korean movies are about to be released

On the 21st of last month, Walt Disney Company announced that it will release the Marvel hero "Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Chaos" starring Benedict Cumberbatch on May 4. Unlike in the past, when the release date was weighed until the last minute due to frequent changes in quarantine guidelines due to the pandemic, he showed confidence in nailing the release date early. On the 30th of last month, Paramount Pictures announced that it will release the sequel "Top Gun: Maverick" (1986), which will be released for the first time in 36 years, in Korea on May 25. The film company has launched an offensive to attract Korean audiences by announcing the release date two months before its release.

Hollywood masterpieces are taking over the spring theater district. Starting with Marvel's anti-hero movie "Mobius," which was released on the 30th of last month, "Amblance," directed by Hollywood blockbuster master Michael Bay, was released on the 6th. Ambulance showed off Hollywood's potential by cutting the starting line at the top of the box office. The third installment of "Mysterious Animal Dictionary," written by Joan K. Rowling, who wrote the Harry Potter series, will also be released in Korea on the 13th to target family audiences.

'Dr. Strange...It is one of the masterpieces that cost nearly 250 billion won to produce. The Ambulance, which spent relatively little money for a blockbuster, is also poised to encroach on the spring theater with spectacular works made with huge funds, with production costs of nearly 50 billion won.

While Hollywood masterpieces are being released one after another, Korean film masterpieces, which cost more than 10 billion won, are still delaying their release, saying, "The best time has not come." For this reason, only mid- and low-budget movies are Korean films that face Hollywood blockbusters in spring theaters. The Korean movie "David" has to fight a tough battle against the surging Hollywood "Goliath."

The Korean films, which were confirmed to be released this month, cost less than 10 billion won each, including "Please Take Care of the Horse", "Anchor" (20th), "The Novelist's Movie" (21st), "Air Murder" (22nd), and "I Want to See Your Parents' Face" (27th). Even this cannot be delayed further, so many of them are released. "Anchor has already finished filming in early 2020," said Shin Hye-yeon, CEO of Insight Film, a production company of "Anchor," adding, "As the times change rapidly, we decided to release it because we were worried that the movie could feel like an old work." It will be released for the first time in five years as the "Me Too controversy" arose about the actor who said, "I want to see your parents' faces," and the pandemic continued. Mindmark, a film distributor, said, "It is a film that deals with social issues related to school violence in depth, and we decided to release it because we think it is worth competing with Hollywood masterpieces."

The problem is that if the finished Korean film masterpieces avoid a head-on confrontation with Hollywood masterpieces and the theater community fights over the timing of restoring the pre-pandemic atmosphere, they risk losing to the box office due to overheated competition. As a result, some predict that the Korean film industry could face a more serious crisis after the pandemic phase.

An official from the movie theater industry said, "Only when there is a perception that the movie theater can be safely enjoyed by lifting the guidelines for prohibiting drinking other than drinks in the movie theater, the audience will return to the movie theater and release the Korean movie masterpiece with confidence."

Date: 2022-04-08

Reporter: 정새울