According to media, in the 1990s, most Korean movies were released on Saturdays. However, after the work week was changed to 5 days/week, the designation of cultural days affected the release to every Wednesday.
Recently, this standard has gradually lost its appeal at the Korean box office. In February, the hit film “Exhuma” broke the revenue record when it reached 11.9 million viewers with its release on Thursday (February 22).
Or with “Hijacking” - a new Korean movie starring Ha Jung Woo, Yeo Jin Goo, Sung Dong Il and Chae Soo Bin, released on June 21 (Friday) has also recorded more than 1 million moviegoers.
Speaking about the reason for choosing a Friday release date, the representative of the production team of “Hijacking” said that their purpose is to diversify the market. “By adjusting the release time to suit the expanding weekend market, we want to maximize audience interaction,” the team added.
Previously, the movie “Taro” (released on June 14), or “Farewell to My Beloved Husband” (released on April 14, 2023) also chose to be released on Friday, in order to catch up with the trend of streaming platforms releasing new content on Friday.
In addition, the short film “Night Fishing” with a duration of 12 minutes and 59 seconds and a ticket price of 1,000 won (0.7 USD/more than 20 thousand VND) was also released on June 14 (Friday).
Initially, the film's screening schedule was somewhat limited to weekends, however, thanks to the great attention it received from the public, the film has now extended its screening time to weekdays, and is considering extending it to the 3rd and 4th weeks.
According to a representative of distributor CGV, they aim to show films from Friday to Sunday to attract more audiences. “With short screening times, we believe that audiences will combine films with other content. Therefore, we focus on weekends when more people are likely to go to the cinema.”
Commenting on the new trend, Hankook Ilbo (Korea) said that when the Wednesday release rule is no longer effective, many films will choose the release date that best suits their strategy. However, this approach can be a double-edged sword. The reason is that in the film industry, word of mouth is a very important factor.
“A Friday release can boost weekend performance if audience feedback is positive, but can also significantly reduce viewership if reviews are negative. With “Hijacking,” the production team seems to have chosen their release strategy confidently despite these risks,” the Korean newspaper commented.
According to the newspaper, audiences also consider the flexibility in watching new movies released on Wednesdays and Fridays a commendable change, as it can help the work avoid direct competition and have a greater chance of success.
Source: https://laodong.vn/van-hoa-giai-tri/thanh-cong-cua-exhuma-va-loi-di-moi-cua-dien-anh-han-quoc-1360805.ldo
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