South Korea’s box office hit a record high in 2009 grossing $940m, up 12.7% year on year. Admissions rose 5.1% to 154.9 million.
Audiences watched more films - 3.15 per capita, up from 3.03 in 2008 - and ticket prices were raised in the middle of the year from an average $5.74 to $6.34 to coincide with the release of Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen.
Local films’ market share also went up from 42.4% the previous year to 48.7%. Disc and online piracy left virtually no legitimate DVD market in South Korean but national efforts such as the star-studded ‘Good Downloader Campaign’ have been taking effect along with the availability of legally paid-for download services from companies such as Cine21i and KTH.
These contributed to what KOFIC estimates to be a doubling of growth, to $26.1m. in legal download sales last year.
| South Korea: Top 5 Films 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Haeundae (S Kor) | CJ Entertainment | $70.5m |
| Take Off (S Kor) | Showbox Mediaplex | $52.4m |
| Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (US) | CJ Entertainment | $44.1m |
| Avatar (US) | 20th Fox | $37.6m* |
| 2012 (US) | 20th Fox | $33.8m |
*Until Dec 31, 2009. Still on release. Source: KOFIC, Screen
| South Korea: Top 5 Local Films 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Haeundae (S Kor) | CJ Entertainment | $70.5m |
| Take Off (S Kor) | Showbox Mediaplex | $52.4m |
| My Girlfriend Is An Agent (S Kor) | Lotte Entertainment | $22m |
| Scandal Makers (S Kor) | Lotte Entertainment | $22m |
| A Frozen Flower (S Kor) | Showbox Mediaplex | $19.6m |
Source: KOFIC, Screen
| South Korea: Foreign Releases 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title (origin) | Distributor | Gross |
| Red Cliff: Part 2 (Chi) | Showbox Mediaplex | $15.4m |
| Slumdog Millionaire (UK) | CJ Entertainment | $6.4m |
| Transporter 3 (Fr) | Cynergy | $5.4m |
| Dectective Conan: The Raven Chaser (Jap) | A1 Entertainment | $3.6m |
| District 13: Ultimatum (Fr) | KD Media | $2.9m |
| Ponyo (Jap) | Showbox Mediaplex | $2.1m |
| The Secret Of Moonacre (UK-Fr) | Sungwon iCom | $1.9m |
| Juon - Old Lady In White, Girl In Black (Jap) | Showbox Mediaplex | $1.8m |
| I Come With The Rain (Fr) | CJ Entertainment | $1.4m |
Source: KOFIC, Screen
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