A string of Hollywood blockbusters are opening in South Korea first.
Reporter Jeong Jae-woo explains why they’re coming to Korea, not at the same time as the U.S., and not at all.
[Reporter]
Along with the spectacular action, a new robot army has arrived.
And the name sticks.
“Optimus, we must join forces to protect everyone.”
- From the movie Transformers: Beast Wars
Twelve years in the making, the movie races toward the end of the series.
Both movies premiered in South Korea안전놀이터.
Next month, Tom Cruise’s new movie will also be released in South Korea a day early.
These Hollywood blockbusters come to us first because we’re a big market.
Koreans were once the most frequent moviegoers in the world.
They were hit hard by the pandemic, but bounced back to be the sixth largest in the world last year.
Another reason is the audience’s characteristic of actively consuming new content and meticulously evaluating and sharing reviews.
[Sohn Jin-ah / Head of Policy Research Team, Film Council Korea : I think the Korean market is very important, and the success or failure of a film here can be seen in other places…]
The King of the Box Office, which lifted the lid on the Avatar sequel in Korea at the end of last year, offered a similar analysis.
[James Cameron/Director (December 2022):] Korea is a very important country for us. The first movie was loved and we know we have a lot of fans here].
The global popularity of our content is also a factor that makes Hollywood come to Korea first.