Korean films are enjoying a banner year at the domestic box office this year thanks to their success in attracting audiences that skew more toward their 30s and 40s than their 20s.
During the first half of 2012 Korean domestic films sold 44.17 million movie tickets, 34.6% more than the same period of 2011 and breaking the record of 41.48 million set in the first half of 2006. Eighteen Korean movies have already sold over a million tickets each, compared with 16 during the same period of 2011 and 13 in 2010.
The main reason for the growing success of Korean films appears to be their appeal to audiences older than the traditional target audience of people in their 20s. The Thieves, one of the year’s blockbusters, got 71% of its audience from people in their 30s and 40s and only 26% from those in their 20s, according to data from Maxmovie, Korea’s top movie site. Another box office hit is Architecture 101 which got only 24% of its audience from people in their 20s versus 45% in their 30s and 28% in their 40s. For All About My Wife, 45% were in their 30s.
The tastes of Korean moviegoers have evolved over the past decade. Whereas comedies or action movies drew the biggest crowds, now audiences are equally drawn to genres like romantic comedies and melodramas once considered niche films. All About My Wife and Architecture 101 each sold over four millions tickets so far this year. Unbowed, based on an actual court case, sold 3.42 million tickets.
As this year’s biggest domestic hits have shown, Korean audiences are now drawn less to plot and action and more to characters, especially if they are played by popular actors. And films with several stars in character roles are proving to be increasingly popular, like The Thieves and Grand Heist.
As Korean filmmakers see more success with mature themes, they have begun raising their target age from teens and young adults to a broad-based audience centered around those in their 30s. This shift has tended to boost the quality of Korean films, helping them compete more effectively against Hollywood imports which are still aimed mostly at youthful audiences.
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Suji Yoo (유수지)
That's a good thing for me. Those kinds of movies interest me more.
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