As entertainment industries around the world begin operating under the new normal brought about by the global coronavirus pandemic, it is becoming clear that recovering from the blow brought by the pandemic is going to take some time. South Korean theaters, for instance, opened over the weekend to a tepid response from the public.
Variety reports that reopened South Korean theaters only brought in seven percent of the box office returns from the same period last year. This was because Hollywood releases have been moved further down the calendar year, as studios are hesitant to put out big movies while moviegoers are still reluctant to return to cinemas. Just some of the big releases that have been moved to different dates are Marvel’s Black Widow, Pixar’s Soul, and Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Rather than new releases, South Korean theaters put out previous blockbusters like The Greatest Showman and The Hitman’s Bodyguard. Other movies that were re-released over the weekend include The Platform, Farewell My Concubine, and Weathering With You. The two biggest earners were The Greatest Showman and The Platform. The Greatest Showman was able to pull in $205,600, while The Platform raked in $387,000.
The dismal returns for South Korean theaters reflect the situation last March of the North American box office, which suffered a $600 million deficit because of moviehouse closures. It also lines up with the World Economic Forum’s forecast that the global film industry would suffer a $5 billion loss because of closures in big markets like Japan and South Korea.
The less-than-impressive returns also only reflect the state of mainstream theatres in South Korea. According to The Korea Herald, Korean actors and filmmakers have had to band under the #SaveOurCinema hashtag to bring up the plight of indie and arthouse films in the country.
Some of the South Korean celebrities that have participated in the campaign include Choi Hee-seo, Lee Je-hoon, Kim Bo-ra, Byung Young-ju, Shin Min-a, Kim Hye-soo, and Han Ye-ri.
With coronavirus cases continuing to rise all over the world, it looks like there is still a lot that the global entertainment industry has to overcome before things go back to normal.
In the May 25 situation report from the World Health Organization, it is shown that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is now at 5,304,772 people, with 100,264 of those being new cases. Deaths caused by COVID-19 are now at 342,029 people, with new deaths making up 4,342 of that total.