After creating a ten million syndrome with 'Seoul's Spring' and successfully leading a B-grade comedy revolution with 'Handsome Guys', the film production company 'Hive Media Corp' has been unable to escape the box office struggles with all three of its new releases since then.
According to the integrated computer network of the Korean Film Council on the 5th, 'Harbin' (directed by Woo Min-ho) attracted 5,096 viewers the previous day, bringing its cumulative audience to about 4.8 million. It ranked 5th at the box office, with a reservation rate of 17th, indicating a potential exit.
Released on the 24th of last month, 'Harbin', starring Hyun Bin, depicts a tense chase and suspicion between those heading to Harbin for a single purpose in 1909 and those pursuing them. The break-even point is approximately 6.5 million.
Distributor CJ ENM continued its 'empty house robbery' strategy with 'Harbin' following the solo release of 'Veteran 2' (directed by Ryu Seung-wan) during the September golden holiday. Although the initial momentum was significant, the audience reviews sharply divided, leading to overwhelmingly negative feedback, and unfortunately, the box office momentum plummeted.
As it became difficult to surpass the break-even point, CJ ENM eventually announced a successful overseas sale and additional rights contracts, lowering the previously announced break-even point to 5.8 million. It is rare for a break-even point officially announced just before release to be changed mid-sales. (Most films also strive to recover costs through various promotions and sales during their theatrical run but do not lower the break-even point based on these.) This unusual move was an attempt to avoid the disgrace of a 'total failure', but ultimately, it could not even meet this revised target and had to exit.
Prior to this, 'Ordinary Family' (directed by Heo Jin-ho) also fell far short of its break-even point of 1.5 million, attracting only about 650,000 viewers. Despite a star-studded cast including Seol Kyung-gu, Kim Hee-ae, Jang Dong-gun, and Soo-hyun, along with a history of invitations to international film festivals, it failed to capture the audience's hearts.
'The Secret That Cannot Be Told' (directed by Seo Yu-min), a remake of a Taiwanese legendary melodrama starring Do Kyung-soo and Won Jin-ah, is also performing the worst among the three films released during the Lunar New Year holiday.
With a break-even point of about 800,000, it has recorded only about 390,000 cumulative viewers, significantly lower than competing films 'Hitman 2' (about 2.3 million) and 'Black Nuns' (about 1.6 million). Since its release, it has consistently recorded single-digit audience numbers, making it difficult to gain traction. The cumulative audience is about 390,000, and it seems challenging to rebound in the reservation rankings.
Meanwhile, the struggles of the once-dominant 'Hive Media Corp' have allowed 'By4M Studio' to emerge as a new powerhouse. Both the ultimate winner of the theater market in the second half of last year, 'Firefighters', and the winner of this year's Lunar New Year holiday, 'Hitman 2', were their productions.
