Korean movies have been going downhill in theaters since the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Several reasons, such as Over The Top (OTT) services and the abrupt increase of movie ticket prices could be the cause of this phenomenon, but as foreign movies have recovered their traction, the issue seems to be a uniquely Korean phenomenon. However, since voices of concern have been raised regarding the state of Korean movies in the past, these claims were not very well-supported in the first place. The main reason Korean movies are losing their viewers is the loss of individuality due to their dependence on cliché tropes that have been successful in the past.

A few factors apart from the argument about the lack of unique ideas are attributed to the fall of Korean movies. One reason is that OTT services such as Netflix, Disney Plus, and Amazon Prime have secured a concrete audience during the pandemic. OTT services had presented stellar films and programs such as Squid Game, causing their audiences to feel no need to go to theaters. As for prices, ticket prices have reached a record high after the pandemic, and people who had been avoiding theaters during COVID-19 were astonished to see the newly set prices. According to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), Korea does not have an exceptionally high rate for movies, but there was an abrupt increase of prices during the pandemic, leading customers to harshly separate films worthy of watching in the theaters from those that are not. This directly impacts the film industry’s tendency to follow a sort of formula for decent success, since the audience is not going to watch films riddled with clichés in theaters anymore.

10 Million Movies Are Not the Solution

Korean actor Don Lee, who usually portrays characters with brute strength, was once and maybe still a phenomenon within the Korean film industry. While some people enjoyed the powerful blows, so many movies oversaturating the concept were feverishly cut out, completely knocking out the audience with an utter lack of uniqueness throughout the films. This is not an exclusive problem for films centered on Don Lee, since some observation of the history of Korean movies indicates that there are a lot of Korean movies that have been overproduced with similar concepts.

During the 2000s, multiple gangster movies have been made in imitation of hugely successful movies like Friend (2001).For this reason, producing mega-hit movies, usually referring to movies which attracted more than 10 million viewers, should not be considered as the main goal of the Korean film industry. Highly successful movies can set templates which movies with little color of its own can copy to find decent success in the market while also homogenizing the preferences of audiences, making it even harder for various styles of movies to be produced. Films should consider having a unique standpoint as to how it tells a story but with enough appealing aspects to attract a respectable amount of people as the ideal format. This version of the industry will have an audience with diversified taste as well, forming a virtuous cycle between the industry and the customers.

There are still quite a few hopeful points for the future of Korean movies. As previously mentioned, although people got bored of gangster movies, the industry still managed to pull through and maintain its audience through new approaches. Also, the success of Japanese animation movies in Korean Theaters is an indication that the audience is ready for new concepts, and the industry may be able to live up to the new expectations. If they are able to find new inspirations for diverse styles, Korean movies will be met by the open arms of the audience.