FEATURE Scaling new heights
A record-breaking year at the Korean box office in 2011 was led by the latest Transformers and Mission: Impossible movies. But while local films staged a comeback, non-Hollywood foreign product struggled to make an impact, writes Liz Shackleton
pared with 2010. And it appears the strong results were not just due to increased ticket prices, as admissions also rose to 159 million — an increase of 8.7% compared with the previous year. US blockbuster Transformers: Dark Of The Moon
K
was the top-grossing fi lm in 2011, raking in $66m, while Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol domi- nated in the normally lucrative year-end period, grossing $50m and trouncing big-budget local release My Way. All three fi lms were released by CJ E&M, along
with local productions Sunny and Punch and US ani- mation Kung Fu Panda 2, which clocked in at third, fourth and fi fth places respectively in the year-end chart. MI4 ended up at number six in the 2011 chart and is also Hollywood’s fi fth biggest-ever release in Korea behind Avatar and the Transformers movies. But with Korean fi lms staging a comeback at the
orea had a record-breaking year at the box office in 2011, with total receipts reaching $1.1bn (WON1.26tn), an increase of 7.4% com-
local box offi ce, foreign product, outside of the Hol- lywood tentpoles, is fi nding it more diffi cult to gain traction in this highly concentrated market, where the top fi ve distributors have a market share of 75%. Foreign films struggled in the first quarter of
2012, traditionally a time when US blockbusters give up screen space to Oscar-nominated fi lms. The Artist, which took home fi ve Academy Awards, and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse brought in only 110,000 and 100,000 admis- sions respectively. The Iron Lady did slightly better with 140,000 admissions, but Martin Scorsese’s Hugo managed only 50,000 admissions.
Though Korean audiences do not usually fl ock
to Oscar-nominated releases, last year both Black Swan and The King’s Speech were sizeable hits. A strong line-up of local mid-sized releases could explain why audiences turned their back on awards-season fare this year: Korean fi lms enjoyed a 61% market share in the fi rst quarter of 2012. CJ E&M ranked as the top distributor during
this period with a 30% market share, followed by ambitious upstart Next Entertainment World (N.E.W.) with 15% (see sidebar, below), Showbox with 14% and Lotte Entertainment with 10.6%. Warner Bros Korea was the leading foreign dis- tributor with a 6.6% market share. One recent bright spot for foreign product
Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol EYES ON THE PRIZE: NEXT ENTERTAINMENT WORLD
Founded in 2008, Next Entertainment World (N.E.W.) is shaking up the Korean market by picking winners among both the local productions it fi nances and the foreign fi lms it acquires. It is also gaining a reputation for backing fi lms the established studios consider risky and turning them into successes. The company had a strong start with the fi rst
‘We’re able to make decisions faster than the
conglomerates’ Woody Kim, Next Entertainment World
fi lm in the Twilight series, which drew 1.3 million admissions in December 2008. It then launched four content funds to fi nance its investments and acquisitions. In addition to the Twilight franchise, N.E.W.’s most successful releases include French hit Intouchables with 1.7 million admissions Immortals (1.3 million) and local releases Unbowed (3.5 million), Hello Ghost (3 million), Unstoppable Family (2.4 million) and Haunters (2 million). Within fi ve years, the company has become a
leading distributor in Korea — in 2011 it ranked third behind CJ E&M and Lotte with a 14% market share, and in the fi rst quarter of 2012 it ranked second behind CJ with 15%. “We manage four funds totalling $70m, we have
experienced people in every position and we’re able to make decisions faster than the conglomerates,”
says president Woody Kim, a former Showbox executive, explaining the company’s success. Kim adds that the company has a democratic
management style, where everyone from the president to the youngest employee is involved in key meetings, which helps the company stay in touch with all its target demographics. “We discuss everything and take a vote on some issues,” says Kim. “It makes our employees much more motivated and passionate about what they do.” The company’s line-up for 2012 includes Cloud
Atlas and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2, both scheduled for release in November, along with Korean rom-com All About My Wife, action thriller The Grand Heist, superhero action fi lm The Fortune Tellers and romantic drama The Banded, which will be rolled out between June and September. Korean sales company Finecut works with N.E.W.
on international sales of its bigger titles and the company is also planning to become involved in the production of pan-Asian projects. Upcoming local productions include comedy horror Ghost Sweepers and $10m creature action adventure Mega Fins, to be directed by Lim Chan-sang.
Unbowed » ■ 52 Screen International at Cannes May 19, 2012
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