Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Lifting of food ban at cinemas pushes up number of moviegoers
A sign at a cinema in Seoul shows, April 24, food consumption inside the theaters would be allowed starting April 25 following eased social distancing rules. Yonhap
By Kim Rahn
By Kim Rahn
Movie lovers have been returning to cinemas since an eased social distancing rule allowed eating inside theaters, the cinema industry said, Monday.
With more blockbuster films scheduled to hit the screens in the coming months, people in the film industry expect the cinema business, which has been one of the hardest hit, to revive in the near future.
According to the Korean Film Council, 968,722 people watched movies at cinemas for the week from April 25 when the in-theater consumption of food was allowed again after a 13-month ban. This represents a 37.5 percent increase from the previous week between April 18 and 24, when other social distancing guidelines had been lifted that did not include food consumption-related rules.
When comparing weekdays, the number of moviegoers jumped 53 percent from 333,173 between April 18 and 22 to 509,247 between April 25 and 29.
People in the industry say food consumption regulation changes were the main growth factor during the period because there were no new highly anticipated movie releases.
CGV, one of the multiplex chains, said the sales of snacks at its cinemas hiked 230 percent in the April 25―May 1 week compared to the previous week, and popcorn took up 56.9 percent of the total sales, a large increase from 24.9 percent a week before.
The number of moviegoers is likely to continue to rise along with releases of blockbusters and films by famous actors and directors, coupled with more frequent private gatherings.
Movies coming out in May include Marvel's “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” starring Benedict Cumberbatch; actor Ma Dong-seok's “The Roundup,” a sequel to 2017 movie “The Outlaws”; and Tom Cruise's much-anticipated film “Top Gun: Maverick.”
In June, director Park Chan-wook's “Decision to Leave” starring Park Hae-il and Tang Wei, and Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda's “Broker” featuring Korean actors Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doona and IU, will hit theaters.