Bust-driven boom - The Korea Times

Ryu Seung-ryong, top, and Gal So-won in “Miracle in Cell No. 7.” / Korea Times

Mega-hit 'Cell No. 7' confirms movies as king of escapist entertainment

By Kim Tong-hyung

The comedy "Miracle in Cell No. 7" became the latest Korean movie to hit the 10 million audience mark over the weekend, joining a precious list that includes "The Host,’’ "The Thieves’’ and "Gwanghae: the Man Who Became the King.’’ Whether it deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as the others is up for debate.

The film reached 10,000,911 viewers as of 9:30 p.m. Saturday, according to its distributor NEW. It took 23 days for Cell No. 7 to reach the milestone, faster than last year’s mega-hit “Gwanghae,” which reached the mark after 38 days in mid-October.

“Cell No. 7” is the third Korean movie in just the past seven months to sell more than 10 million tickets. And there is a not-so-remote possibility that Ryu Seung-wan’s spy thriller "The Berlin Files,’’ which has been giving “Cell No. 7” stiff competition in the box office standings, will also soon join the 10 million viewer club.

The status of Bong Joon-ho’s “Host,” the highest grossing Korean film of all time after selling 13 million tickets in 2006, has never been more precarious.

The next big films in the pipeline this year are "Stoker,’’ the new film by Park Chan-wook, of "Old Boy’’ fame, and Bong’s sci-fi movie "Snowpiercer.’’

"The Korean film industry producing three 10 million-plus films over a seven-month span is truly an unbelievable development and something that no one could claim they saw coming. Big bang is the only way to describe this,’’ said movie critic Jeon Chan-il.

"The overall quality and level of entertainment provided by Korean films has undoubtedly improved, which now allows film creators to work with a much larger body of customers than before that are spread more broadly across age groups and income brackets.’’

The Korean film industry is coming off a record year in 2012 when it sold nearly 200 million tickets and the pace of growth has picked up further at the start of 2013.

The number of moviegoers measured at theaters across the nation reached 23.6 million in January, up by more than 22 percent year-on-year. Nearly 18 million tickets were sold through last week this month, already 5 million more than the 13 million for the whole month of February last year.

It could be argued that the popularity of movies has been accelerated by the bad economy. Consumers, reeling from stagnant incomes and higher living costs, are looking for cheaper ways to spend their leisure time and it’s difficult to beat spending 10,000 won for popcorn, soda and two hours of entertainment.

Among the list of Korean movies that drew more than 10 million, “Cell No. 7” is clearly the pound-for-pound king finance-wise. The movie cost 5.5 billion won to make, but has already raked in more than 70 billion won.

It could also be argued as the worst movie on the list, at least from a critic’s standpoint. It is a comedy but also an unapologetic tearjerker, the type of movie that ages badly and is resented by the time of reaching cable television.

The movie ― directed by Lee Hwang-kyun and starring Chungmuro hotshot Ryu Seung-ryong ― is about a man with learning difficulties who raises a daughter alone. After he is wrongfully jailed for murder, his warmhearted cellmates take drastic measures to secretly bring in his daughter to live with them.