'Exhuma’ drives gross sales file for home movie tickets in March -

Screens advertise occult horror film ″Exhuma″ in a movie theater in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Screens promote occult horror movie ″Exhuma″ in a movie show in Seoul. [NEWS1]

Korean movies noticed the best ticket gross sales determine for the month of March this yr upon elevated ticket costs and the record-breaking recognition of occult blockbuster “Exhuma” that continues to attract moviegoers.

Homegrown films offered a complete of 80.3 billion received ($59.3 million) price of tickets on the native field workplace in March, in line with the Korean Movie Council (kofic) on Tuesday, a 274.1 p.c on-year improve and the best ticket gross sales complete for native movies recorded for the month.

Gross sales even surpassed pre-Covid-19 ranges. A complete of 116.6 billion received in ticket gross sales for each native and abroad movies was made in March this yr, 45.7 p.c greater than the typical ticket gross sales for March from 2017 to 2019, which was 114.3 billion received.

The variety of moviegoers has nonetheless remained decrease than pre-pandemic ranges, with 11.7 million tickets offered in March this yr, 84.9 p.c of the typical of 13.78 million folks in the identical month earlier than the pandemic period.

Nevertheless, the value of theater tickets has elevated by 55.5 p.c throughout the identical interval. An everyday ticket on weekdays in Korea’s three largest theaters — CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox — value 9,000 received in 2017. It rose to 14,000 received by April 2022 and has stayed at 14,000 received since then.

The success of Korean film ticket gross sales is particularly attributed to the good points from “Exhuma.”

“March ticket gross sales have been vastly boosted by the mega hit ‘Exhuma’ to succeed in the typical gross sales round pre-pandemic stage,” Kofic stated in its Tuesday report. “This yr’s gross sales is the second largest complete for the month of March after March 2019.”

“Exhuma” premiered on Feb. 22. The movie recorded 70.7 billion received in ticket gross sales and was seen by 7.26 million folks in March at native theaters. It accounted for 60.7 p.c of all ticket gross sales for the month and sits at No. 1 as of Tuesday.

In the meantime, overseas movies noticed a lower in each ticket gross sales and viewers.

In March, a complete of 36.3 billion received in tickets have been purchased for overseas movies, a 38.0 p.c on-year lower and equal to 56.9 p.c of the typical pre-pandemic March gross sales.

A complete of three.41 million folks watched overseas movies in March, falling 39.1 p.c on yr and down 44.9 p.c from the pre-pandemic common.