Claudia Kim steals show in `Avengers'

This photo provided by Disney/Marvel shows, from left, Cobie Smulders, seated, Chris Evans, Don Cheadle, Claudia Kim, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson in the film, "Avengers: Age of Ultron." / AP-Yonhap

By Baek Byung-yeul

Actress Claudia Kim attend a press conference to promote her latest film "Avengers: Age of Ultron" in Seoul, April 17. The movie opened Thursday in Korea. / AP-Yonhap

It is not Robert Downey Jr. or Scarlett Johansson but Kim Soo-hyun, who goes by her English name, Claudia Kim, that captured the imagination of some early Korean moviegoers on the opening day of "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

The sample may be too small to generalize the 177-centimeter-tall Korean actress as the unexpected scene stealer, especially when a group of young male college students was asked who was the most impressive.

"Before entering the cinema, we all thought casting Kim Soo-hyun was sort of a fan service for the Koreans, because she was unfamiliar to moviegoers here," said one of a group of college students on their way out of a cinema in southern Seoul, Thursday.

"However, after the end of the film, we all agreed that Kim looked superb, and now we are all big fans of her."

In the film, the Korean actress plays Helen Cho, a world-renowned geneticist who helps superheroes from her office in Seoul and Avengers Tower.

The film made headlines here last year when Kim was named to appear in the franchise.

The opening of the film has been met with enthusiasm. The reservation rate hit a record high of more than 95 percent, or 930,000 people, wanting to watch it.

Fascinated with the media hype and the trailer scenes of the much-anticipated Hollywood blockbuster, early birds gathered at the COEX Megabox Theater, southern Seoul, to enjoy the movie before anyone else, and they were not disappointed.

"We are great fans of the Avengers franchise," a movie fan, who only identified himself as Han, said.

Accompanied by his wife, Han, in his early 30s, said he took a day off work to watch the film.

"The scenes filmed in Seoul were a bit shorter than the media has previously reported, but it was good to see superheroes fighting in my hometown," he said. "But I doubt whether overseas visitors would decide to visit Seoul as the scenes taken here moved too fast."

"Avengers: Age of Ultron," the sequel to the 2012 blockbuster hit that garnered some 7 million viewers in Korea, has been the talk of the town since it filmed scenes in Gangnam, Sangam Digital Media City and Mapo Bridge in April last year.

The Hollywood cast members' visit to Seoul heightened expectations for the movie. The visitors included Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and director Joss Whedon.

Considering that "Avengers: Age of Ultron" is running at 1,821 movie theaters on some 2,200 screens throughout the country, experts say the film is expected to become the top-grossing foreign hit, surpassing the record of 13 million set by the 2009 blockbuster "Avatar."

Is investment worth it?

Is it worth it?

A question hundreds of thousands of Koreans expected to watch the new Avengers movie might well ask.

The Seoul government cordoned off a bridge for filming and gave financial aid to the tune of 2 billion won ($1.8 million) for Marvel's production of "Avengers: Age of Ultron."

Scenes from Seoul in the film amount to 20 minutes screen time, so it remains to be seen whether such an investment was justified.

Officials forecast that the Korean capital featuring in the blockbuster will present it positively to the rest of the world, bringing 2 trillion won ($1.85 billion) in direct and indirect economic benefits.

"The city and the Korea Film Council decided to financially support at least 25 percent of Marvel's production budget during its filming in Korea," Park Je-myeong, of the Culture and Economy Fusion Department at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said.

Hur You-jung, 24, who works in public relations at the JW Marriot Hotel, does not think the money was a wise investment.

"Honestly, it gives great exposure but we have other ways to attract foreign tourists, and if Seoul was featured as the main location or portrayed longer in the movie, it would have been a wiser decision," she said.

Others say that the scenes highlighting Seoul are not that positive.

Kang Hyung-gyu, 22, a university student, said the amount spent was not that much, however.

"Investing in the development of cultural content is important for the city of Seoul — and there's not much the government could do with 2 billion won anyway," he said.

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