A year after South Korea's cinemas failed to produce a single film drawing 10 million viewers, the industry is warming up again. Two films have crossed that mark this year — "The Man Who Lives With the King" and "Odyssey" — with "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" adding further momentum. Premium formats such as IMAX, 4DX and ScreenX have drawn sharply more viewers, raising expectations for higher spending per ticket and better profitability at theater operators.
Cumulative box office revenue reached 1.0641 trillion won as of the 21st, with 102.92 million admissions, according to the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing network. Revenue has already surpassed last year's full-year total of 1.047 trillion won, while admissions stand at 96.5% of last year's 106.08 million. Admissions barely topped 100 million late in the year in 2025, but passed that level in mid-October this year, pointing to a faster recovery.
"The Man Who Lives With the King" has drawn 16.93 million viewers, "Odyssey" 12.25 million and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" 9.05 million. A wave of mid-sized hits drawing 3 million to 7 million viewers also supported the gains, with Korean films spanning several genres performing evenly — "Dark Forest" at 5.95 million, "Hope" at 4.58 million and "Assassin(s)" at 3.28 million. "What is encouraging is that the market is no longer leaning on one or two blockbusters, but has produced a number of mid-sized hits," an industry official said. Domestic hits and global franchise titles together pulled audiences back into theaters and underpinned the recovery, according to industry assessments.
The market is paying particular attention to the rapid growth of premium screens, where tickets cost up to three times those for standard screens depending on running time and screen conditions. Premium-format revenue totaled 45.7 billion won in the first half, up 56.3% from a year earlier, Korean Film Council data showed. Admissions rose 49.0% to 2.85 million over the same period. Premium screenings accounted for 7.9% of total box office revenue, up 0.7 percentage points from 7.2% a year earlier. IMAX revenue climbed 48.7% to 19.5 billion won, making up 42.5% of all premium-format revenue. Large screens and immersive sound — elements available only in theaters — are drawing audiences and establishing premium screens as a key earnings source for the industry, analysts said.
Hollywood blockbusters benefited most. "Odyssey," released Aug. 5, generated about 42.4 billion won from premium screenings, or 30% of its total revenue. For "Spider-Man," released July 29, premium screens accounted for 16.2 billion won, or 11.6% of total revenue.
Against this backdrop, CJ CGV (079160), the country's largest theater operator, expects earnings to improve on rising admissions, the premium-screen boom typified by the popularity of the IMAX auditorium at its Yongsan complex, and cuts to loss-making sites and staff. The company has pushed through a broad restructuring in recent years, closing unprofitable locations and reducing headcount. Directly operated sites fell to 106 in the second quarter of this year from 115 in 2019, while total employees dropped to 894 from 1,423 over the same period. Management points to its expanding premium-screen business overseas as a new growth engine. Through its subsidiary 4DPLEX, CJ CGV is pursuing international markets with the ScreenX and 4DX formats, aiming to build them into a next-generation revenue source by signing more deals with large global theater chains and producing dedicated content.
Still, most in the industry doubt that the era of 200 million annual admissions, seen from 2013 to 2019, will return, citing the fundamental weakness of the film business. Average cinema visits per person fell to 2.08 last year from 4.37 in 2019, roughly half the earlier level.