D-1 ‘Spring in Seoul’, reservation rate exceeds 52.3%… Will there be a boom in Korean theaters? [MD Focus]

[My Daily = Reporter Noh Han-bin] The movie Spring of Seoul received a box office green light today (the 21st), a day before its release, exceeding the advance reservation rate of 50%.

‘Spring in Seoul’ is a film depicting the 9 hours of desperate action to prevent a revolt by the new military forces that occurred in the capital city of Seoul on December 12, 1979.

As of 7 p.m. on the 21st, according to the  Youngjinjin Committee’s integrated computer network for movie theater admission tickets, ‘Seoul’s Spring’ The reservation rate reached 52.3%, ranking first in the overall reservation rate for 10 consecutive days. This is ‘smuggling’, ‘concrete utopia’ It is a figure that is comparable to the advance reservation rate of this year’s summer box office hits, symbolically showing the keen interest of prospective audiences toward ‘Spring in Seoul’.

This summer, as a theater tentpole (commercial film expected to be a box office hit), the movies  ’Smuggling’, ’Unofficial Operation’, ’The Moon’, ’ Concrete Utopia was released, but, except for Smuggling and Concrete Utopia, it performed below expectations. Among them, ‘the Moon’ suffered a crushing defeat, only attracting 520,000 people, far short of the break-even point.

Chuseok and going to the theater weren’t much different. Movies ’Dr. Cheon’s Exorcism Lab: Secrets of the Snowy Scenery’, ‘1947 Boston’, ‘Cobweb’ None of them passed the break-even point. In particular, ‘Cobweb’ recorded the worst performance with a cumulative audience of 310,000.

While the theater world is suffering from an endless slump, expectations are high for Seoul’s spring, with actors Jung Woo-sung, Hwang Jung-min, Lee Seong-min, Park Hae-joon, and Kim Sung-kyun coming together. What kind of transformation they will show through ‘Spring in Seoul’ and the powerful ensemble they will create by coexisting and colliding are also reasons to look forward to this work.

Also, ‘Beat'(1997), ‘There is no Sun'(1999), ‘Cold'(2013), ‘Asura’ ‘Spring in Seoul’, directed by director Kim Seong-soo, who has made several bold films such as ;(2016), adds to expectations as Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung of ‘Asura’ come together once again. ‘Spring in Seoul’ held its press/distribution preview and first preview on the 9th. Afterwards, favorable reviews from the media and audiences poured in, attracting attention.

Here, Hwang Jung-min’s bald wig makeup, which transformed into Chun Doo-gwang, a dramatization of Chun Doo-hwan, was used in ‘Seoul’s Spring’ As soon as the trailer was released, it attracted explosive interest. At the previous press conference, he said, “It wasn’t difficult. “He is so good at special makeup,” he said. “It took about 4 hours.” Once I got used to it, it took 3 and a half hours. “It was difficult to wake up at dawn, but there was nothing uncomfortable,” he said.

Director Kim Seong-su expressed his thoughts on starting filming with reliable actors, saying, “All the famous actors of the time have gathered for ‘Spring in Seoul,’” and, “Could it be better as a director?” revealed. ‘Seoul’s Spring’, which took the unrivaled first place and had a reservation rate exceeding 50%, surpassed this summer’s biggest box office hit, ‘Smuggling’ (cumulative number of viewers: 5.14 million), and was the only film this year to attract 10 million viewers. Attention is being paid to whether it could become the second movie to reach 10 million viewers in 2023, following the movie ‘Crime City 3’ (cumulative audience number: 10.68 million).