Box office release dates play crucial role for movies
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Kang Dong-won, right, in a still from “Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned” / Courtesy of Showbox
By Park Jin-hai
Well-made content has always been an important factor for a film’s box office success. Industry insiders say that release dates now play an even bigger role in breaking box office records.
Recently, movie distributor Showbox postponed the release date for its upcoming fantasy romance film “Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned,” starring actor Kang Dong-won, by a week to Nov. 17, a day prior to the nationwide college Scholastic Ability Test (SAT), aiming for the student audience who would come to theaters after the exam.
As it changes the release date, other local movies have followed suit.
Distributor NEW postponed the release date for the romantic comedy “Because I Love You” a day later to Nov. 17, while bowling movie “Split” starring actor Yoo Ji-tae moved up the planned release date by a week.
Nowadays, the release dates are carefully set after studies of the past and present moviegoers’ trends, preferences and rivaling movies.
Due to the fast spread of opinion via social media, Showbox says the strategy to schedule the film’s premiere has become more important.
“The widespread use of SNS creates opinion and carries it fast. Success of a certain movie tends to be decided during the first week after the release,” said a Showbox official. “If big name films fail to draw a good number of viewers within that critical one week, other movies can secure screens. Thus the timing of a film’s release has been made all the more important.”
“Under the premise that the movie is well-made, for sure, a timely distribution strategy is a must for box office success. The number of screens is limited and movies compete to secure more screens,” said another movie distributor.
“Vanishing Time,” made with an investment of 7 billion won, including the production cost of 5.5 billion won, has postponed its release date under the calculation that those student customers’ tickets are needed to surpass the break-even point of 2 million viewers for the film.
Among the winners that hit the jackpot with smartly positioned release dates are small-budget comedy film “Luck-Key” and local zombie movie “Train to Busan.”
Screened with no major rivals in sight in the typically slow month of October, “Luck-Key” attracted 5 million viewers, surpassing the break-even point of 1.8 million in four days after the premiere. “Train to Busan” held a three day period of paid-previews prior to its official release and became the first local movie that hit the 10 million mark in ticket sales this year.
Hockey film “Take Off 2” has been said to be one of the unfortunate movies that did poorly due to its untimely release date. Although the movie had relatively good reviews, it premiered on the same day as local blockbuster “Tunnel.” It was a time when the popularity of a slew of earlier released big-name movies such as “Train to Busan” “Operation Chromite” and “The Last Princess” still flourished, and “Take Off 2” finished by attracting only 710,000 viewers at the local box office.