Megabox (CEO Hong Jeong-in, Nam Yong-seok), which is gaining attention with various plans including exclusive releases, revealed its content planning strategy for 2025.
Kim Joo-hong, head of the Megabox content planning team, stated on the 26th, “The trend of releasing individual exclusive films or planning re-releases will continue,” adding, “We will actively procure meaningful content and enhance its value to continuously communicate with the audience.”
He continued, “We plan to showcase various content such as fan-favorite content, musicals, concerts, and live viewings by utilizing Megabox's unique advantages like Dolby Cinema. This is what Megabox does best,” he emphasized.
Last year, Megabox released ‘Look Back’ as an exclusive film, attracting 300,000 viewers to theaters. It is unusual for an exclusive theatrical release to surpass 300,000 viewers. The re-release of ‘Love Letter’ earlier this year has also gathered over 100,000 viewers. To evoke memories from its first screening in Korea, vertical subtitles were applied, and the mistranslations that were pointed out as ‘flaws’ were corrected, adding value. Additionally, collaborations with AI 4K upscaling company ‘Inshots’ and Japan's largest virtual group ‘Nijisanji’ are suggesting the direction for theatrical content.
This interview was conducted as part of a project to re-evaluate the current position and value of theaters, titled ‘Rediscovering the Theater’. As the first initiative, the full interview video titled ‘Rediscovering Content’ featuring Kim Joo-hong's insights on theater programming and overall content planning can be found on the Megabox official YouTube channel. Below is a Q&A with Kim Joo-hong, head of the Megabox content planning team.
Q. What does the Megabox content planning team do?
A. In the past, we were responsible for procuring and programming films. Now, the scope of our work has expanded. We are in charge of finding and programming good content not only for films but also for sports broadcasts, opera and classical-related content, musicals, pop music concerts, live viewings, and more.
Q. I heard there was an award for the content planning team at Megabox earlier this year.
A. It seems that our performance over the past year was well-received. In particular, the success of ‘Look Back’, which we released as an exclusive film last year, was significant. Megabox independently imported and distributed the Japanese animation ‘Look Back’, and thankfully, 300,000 viewers came to see it, making a big splash in the industry.
Additionally, the musical content ‘Hero: Live in Cinema’ and ‘Elisabeth: The Musical Live’ were also exclusively screened by Megabox, receiving great responses. ‘Elisabeth: The Musical Live’ recorded the highest audience numbers for content capturing a live musical performance. I believe these achievements led to the entire team receiving an award.
Q. I'm curious about the process of importing and distributing ‘Look Back’ directly.
A. One of my team members showed me the ‘Look Back’ manga and mentioned that it would be adapted into a theatrical animation, so I casually took a look. The art style was very unique and impressive, and by the last four or five pages, I was deeply moved. I became eager and immediately requested a meeting with the production company and went to Japan. There, I confidently explained the benefits of an exclusive release through Megabox and sincerely persuaded them. Other distributors and theaters were also showing great interest, so the competition was fierce, but I believe there was a clear reason why they chose Megabox. I did my best to ensure the film succeeded without regrets, and that effort seems to have led to good results.
Q. How should we interpret the score of 300,000 viewers for ‘Look Back’?
A. It should be seen as the best performance among cases of exclusive theatrical releases to date. A notable record among Megabox's exclusive releases would be the 2021 release of ‘Demon Slayer: Mugen Train’, where Megabox was the first to push for an exclusive release a week earlier than other theater brands, attracting over 200,000 viewers during that week. In 2016, the religious film ‘Resurrection’ drew over 165,000 viewers. Typically, for films of a similar scale to ‘Look Back’, if they are widely released across all theaters, gathering 100,000 to 200,000 viewers is considered a success. Given this context, it is a remarkable achievement for a film to gather 300,000 viewers as an exclusive release in one theater brand.
Q. Why does Megabox import and distribute films directly?
A. First, there are environmental factors at play, as the number of films being released is gradually decreasing. However, more than anything, I wanted to choose content that Megabox could excel in. Instead of passively waiting for good works from various distributors like in the past, I thought it would be better to actively seek out content that we want to show to the audience. I believe the result of that effort is reflected in ‘Look Back’.
Q. What are Megabox's unique strengths in exclusive releases or content planning?
A. Megabox has been dealing with Japanese content and classical-related content, including opera, for a long time, accumulating know-how related to exclusive releases. There have been many different types of planned screenings beyond exclusive releases, and through this process, I believe we have created a perception that “if you go to Megabox, you can see this type of content.” There is a fan base that enjoys exclusive releases or plans that reflect Megabox's characteristics, and Megabox itself strives to satisfy not only the existing supporters but also new audiences. Partner companies also report high satisfaction after working with Megabox. This is because when our team procures content, the marketing team, product planning team, brand team, and communication team all come together to work hard to ensure that the content meets the audience in the best condition.
Q. Will the trend of individual theaters releasing exclusive films continue?
A. I believe it will continue. Distributors are increasingly choosing exclusive releases over wide releases depending on the work. Of course, it may vary depending on the scale of the content, but sometimes it is a better choice to save on marketing costs and secure screening rooms through close collaboration with specific theaters. It is a strategy that minimizes risks while maximizing results.
Q. There have been many re-releases in theaters recently.
A. The increase in re-releases started during the COVID period. In a way, it could have been a self-help measure for theaters to survive in a suddenly difficult market, but there are lessons learned from that period. Simply re-screening a “good movie” does not guarantee that audiences will come to theaters. Therefore, while promoting re-releases, Megabox strives to add additional value to that content. For example, the re-release of ‘Love Letter’ on January 1, which surpassed 100,000 viewers, corrected the mistranslations and paraphrases that were pointed out as shortcomings during the original screening, and applied vertical subtitles in the old style to evoke memories from its first release. I wanted to give existing fans of ‘Love Letter’ a gift-like experience and make first-time viewers feel like they had a “new discovery.”
Q. What is the reason for Megabox signing an MOU with ‘Inshots’, which has the ‘AI SuperScaler’ solution?
A. One of the biggest disappointments while reviewing re-releases was the ‘image quality’. Then, I was introduced to a partner called ‘Inshots’ through a fortunate opportunity. Observing their technological capabilities, I judged that we could significantly resolve the issues of poor image quality in past films. The recent re-release of ‘The Hen Who Dreamed of Flying’ in 4K quality was the first collaboration with Inshots.
Q. I heard that theaters are facing many challenges in terms of space business. What other plans are in place besides films?
A. Megabox is also strong in ‘fan content’. We are trying to create opportunities for fans to enjoy content like ‘Theatrical Version Idolish Seven’ and ‘Love Live!’ series at Megabox. We are also actively considering concert and musical content. Megabox is the only theater operating ‘Dolby Cinema’ and ‘Dolby Atmos’ theaters in the country. Above all, it is a special theater with the best sound system. We plan to leverage these advantages to release suitable content. Last year, we also established a cheering stick control system in seven Megabox locations. We held screenings of ‘Victory’ and ‘Wicked’ in a cheering stick format, achieving meaningful results. The audience response was significant as they expressed themselves physically and enjoyed the films more actively.
Q. An MOU was also signed with Japan's largest virtual group ‘Nijisanji’.
A. Analyzing the growing virtual idol market, we sought out the company with the largest scale of virtual idol characters in Japan. We met with the number one virtual group in the local market, ‘Nijisanji’. It wasn't just Megabox that was sensitive to market changes; many companies were making good proposals to ‘Nijisanji’. Fortunately, they recognized Megabox's strengths and decided to collaborate. We will actively work together to bring various content from ‘Nijisanji’ to Megabox.
Q. What is your outlook for the theater industry this year?
A. The market is shrinking and changing rapidly. It is certainly a difficult situation. However, I believe that the industry has accumulated know-how over the years of going through such periods. Therefore, efforts to find new paths are also ongoing. I think 2025 will be a year where we abandon traditional methods in production, marketing, and distribution and try and adopt new methods. In line with this trend, theaters will also strive to overcome market difficulties by actively collaborating with partner companies.
Q. What is Megabox's exclusive lineup for 2025?
A. The re-releases that can be disclosed at this time include ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Cowboy Bebop’. Among the new films that Megabox will exclusively release are ‘First Kiss’, ‘Takagi-san: The Playful Girl’, ‘Attack on Titan’, and ‘Last Mile’. We are also preparing various other re-releases and exclusive releases, so please look forward to it.
