SOUTH KOREA 2010-2014

SOUTH KOREA 2010-2014
(1) BY THE NUMBERS
(A) MARKET STATISTICS
Screens
Theatrical admissions (millions)
Per capita attendance
Box office (EUR millions)
Releases
Domestic releases
US releases
European releases
German releases
Domestic market share
German market share
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
AVERAGE
2,003
149.1
2.9
698.6
388
126
123
50
6
46.5%
0.08%
1,974
159
3.1
823.6
297
93
117
49
7
51.9%
0.51%
2,081
194.8
3.8
1,035.9
426
140
117
91
3
58.8%
0.08%
2,184
213.3
4.2
1,023.7
905
183
265
294
5
58.7%
0.24%
2,281
215.1
4.3
1,103.6
1,117
232
258
221
13
50.1%
0.74%
2,105
186.3
36.6
937.1
627
155
176
141
7
53.2%
0330%
*EUR equivalents are calculated throughout at the exchange rate for December 31 of the year in question.
1
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
Percentage of annual box office
South Korea: Market Shares 2010-2014
70
60
50
40
Domestic
30
German
20
10
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
South Korea: Theatrical Releases 2010-2014
1200
1000
Total
800
Domestic
600
US
400
European
200
German
0
2010
2
2011
2012
2013
2014
Average
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
(B) THEATRICAL RELEASES
TITLE
DISTRIBUTOR
RELEASE DATE
BOX OFFICE
$US
Mediasoft Films
AUD
Company L
Peterpan Pictures
Old Face
JMD Entertainment
16.12.10
16.12.10
02.09.10
01.07.10
22.04.10
03.06.10
402,110
88,273
84,558
72,378
57,668
47,308
Sony Pictures Releasing Buena Vista Korea
Sidus FNK
Showbox
AE Entertainment
15.09.10
02.06.10
25.02.10
04.02.10
12,963,377
1,094,322
378,434
51,165
BaekDu-DaeGan Films Co
Valjean International
With Cinema
16.09.10
15.04.10
07.01.10
36,794
15,256
11,908
Lotte Entertainment
Jinjin Pictures
Lotte Entertainment
Sponge Entertainment
Jinjin Pictures
TCast
PoongKyung SoRi
12.10.11
30.06.11
18.08.11
17.02.11
20.01.11
29.09.11
24.11.11
5,170,426
95,215
57,264
42,863
35,450
34,223
34,182
2010 GERMAN FILMS (100% OR MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS)
THE LAST STATION (Ger/Rus/UK)
GELIEBTE CLARA (Ger/Fr/Hun)
DIE TÜR (Ger)
DAS WEISSE BAND (Ger/Aut/It/Sp)
WÜSTENBLUME (Ger/Aut)
NORDWAND (Ger/Aut/Swz)
2010 GERMAN MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS
RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (UK/Ger/US)
THE GHOST (Fr/Ger/UK)
HAPPILY N'EVER AFTER 2 (US/Ger)
DISCO ORMENE (Den/Ger)
UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS
PAST LIVES (Thai/Ger/Fr/Sp/UK)
A MATTER OF SIZE (Isr/Ger/Fr)
IL Y A LONGTEMPS QUE JE T'AIME (Fr/Ger)
2011 GERMAN FILMS (100% OR MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS)
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Ger/Fr/UK/US)
DIE FRISEUSE (Ger)
JASPER UND DAS LIMONADENKOMPLOTT (Ger/Fr)
SOUL KITCHEN (Ger/Fr/It)
TANZTRÄUME (Ger)
DREI (Ger)
VISION - AUS DEM LEBEN DER HILDEGARD VON BINGEN (Ger)
3
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
2011 GERMAN MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS
UNKNOWN (US/Ger/UK/Fr)
HANNA (US/UK/Ger)
LOURDES (Aut/Ger/Fr)
LE HAVRE (Fin/Fr/Ger)
ANTICHRIST (Den/Ger)
FAUBOURG ‘36 (Fr/Ger/Cz)
Warner Bros. Korea
Sony Pictures Releasing Buena Vista Korea
AUD
Challan
Mars Entertainment
Jinjin Pictures
17.02.11
14.04.11
17.02.11
08.12.11
14.04.11
17.02.11
3,503,340
1,464,299
55,687
34,791
22,781
5,834
Sony Pictures (South Korea)
SBS
KT&G Sansangmadang
13.09.12
08.08.12
10.05.12
4,227,303
1,605,278
92,441
n/a
Sony Pictures (South Korea)
Fine Pictures Co
Pancinema
25.12.12
14.03.12
09.02.12
12.07.12
2,399,902
1,625,045
373,288
165,855
N.E.W
Apex Entertainment Co
Sejong Communications
Sponge Entertainment
Mountain Pictures
10.01.13
18.07.13
27.06.13
21.03.13
12.12.13
3,023,466
250,627
29,727
8,479
3,712
Lotte Entertainment
CJ Entertainment
n/a
12.09.13
14.02.13
18.04.13
3,676,161
1,310,154
1,256,999
2012 GERMAN FILMS (100% OR MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS)
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (Ger/Can)
KONFERENZ DER TIERE (Ger)
A DANGEROUS METHOD (Ger/Can/UK/Swz)
2012 GERMAN MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS
NIKO 2 – LENTÄJÄVELJEKSET (Fin/Den/Ire/Ger)
THE VOW (US/Brz/Fr/Aus/UK/Ger)
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (UK/Fr/Ger)
STREETDANCE 2 (UK/Ger/It)
2013 GERMAN FILMS (100% OR MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS)
CLOUD ATLAS (Ger/US)
RITTER ROST - EISENHART & VOLL VERBEULT (Ger)
VINCENT WILL MEER (Ger)
BARBARA (Ger)
NANGA PARBAT (Ger)
2013 GERMAN MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS
THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS: CITY OF BONES (US/Ger/Can)
HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS (US/Ger)
SONG FOR MARION (UK/Ger)
4
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
RUSH (US/UK/Ger)
MEDIANERAS (Arg/Ger/Sp)
MR. NOBODY (Ger/Fr/Bel/Can)
BAL (Tur/Ger)
PARADIES: LIEBE (Aut/Ger/Fr)
2 DAYS IN NEW YORK (Fr/Ger/Bel)
POULET AUX PRUNES (Fr/Ger/Bel)
Lotte Entertainment
Jinjin Pictures
Bubble & Joy Pictures
n/a
n/a
AUD
TimeStory
09.10.13
12.09.13
24.10.13
26.09.13
17.10.13
29.08.13
20.06.13
603,613
151,640
107,419
12,363
10,928
n/a
n/a
Sidus Pictures
Next Entertainment World
Sejong Communications
Sane Company
Musee Entertainment
ThanksCo Company
TCast
Focus & Company
Company L
Sejong Communications
Mountain Pictures
Company L
Company L
09.01.14
11.12.14
03.08.14
24.12.14
05.06.14
27.11.14
18.12.14
24.04.14
27.11.14
20.11.14
13.11.14
18.12.14
09.10.14
4,158,722
1,885,103
1,874,090
880,388
499,061
344,606
145,037
115,271
28,347
10,474
6,758
63
n/a
Daisy & Synergy
n/a
Twentieth Century Fox (South Korea)
UniKorea Culture
Twentieth Century Fox (South Korea)
AtnineFilm
Challan
Dreamwest Pictures
Chris Lee Pictures
20.02.14
20.02.14
20.03.14
19.06.14
27.02.14
19.06.14
09.01.14
07.08.14
19.06.14
9,576,287
8,252,627
5,596,261
2,315,779
390,527
336,190
216,527
108,423
47,825
2014 GERMAN FILMS (100% OR MAJORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS)
TARZAN 3D (Ger)
LOVE, ROSIE (Ger/UK)
DIE BIENE MAJA – DER KINOFILM (Ger/Aus)
DER 7BTE ZWERG (Ger)
NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON (Ger/Swz/Por)
HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (Ger/Can)
CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA (Ger/Fr/Swz)
DER TEUFELSGEIGER (Ger/Aut)
FÜNF FREUNDE 3 (Ger)
FACK JU GÖHTE (Ger)
DER MONDMANN (Ger/Fr/Ire)
DIE FRAU HINTER DER WAND (Ger)
KREUZWEG (Ger)
2014 GERMAN MINORITY CO-PRODUCTIONS
POMPEII (Can/Ger)
ANONYMOUS (UK/Ger)
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (US/Ger)
LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE (Fr/Ger)
THE MONUMENTS MEN (US/Ger)
NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME 1 (Den/Ger/Fr/Swe/Bel)
ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE (UK/Ger/Fr/Cyp)
A MOST WANTED MAN (UK/US/Ger)
WADJDA (Saudi/Ger)
5
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
MAPS TO THE STARS (Can/US/Fr/Ger)
THE CONGRESS (Isr/Ger/Pol/Fr/Bel)
NYMPHOMANIAC: VOLUME 2 (Den/Ger/Fr/Swe/Bel)
LA RELIGIEUSE (Fr/Ger/Bel)
WAKOLDA (Arg/Sp/Ger/Fr)
THE LUNCHBOX (Ind/Fr/Ger)
LES SALAUDS (Fr/Ger)
Doki Entertainment
Cinema De Manon
AtnineFilm
Green Narae Media
Company L
PeterPan Pictures
Challan
25.12.14
05.06.14
03.07.14
23.01.14
29.04.14
10.04.14
02.10.14
33,542
7,416
5,233
1,733
515
355
n/a
(C) TOP 10 GERMAN FILMS IN SOUTH KOREA
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (2011)
RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION (2012)
TARZAN 3D (2014)
CLOUD ATLAS (2013)
LOVE, ROSIE (2014)
DIE BIENE MAJA - DER KINOFILM (2014)
KONFERENZ DER TIERE (2012)
DER 7BTE ZWERG (2012)
NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON (2014)
HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS (2014)
ADMISSIONS
BOX OFFICE (EUR)
738,632
630,941
602,713
458,101
273,203
271,607
239,594
127,692
72,328
49,943
3,991,569
3,204,296
3,435,104
2,195,036
1,557,095
1,547,998
1,216,801
727,200
412,670
284,645
Average admissions for a German film in South Korea, 2010-2014: 105,931
Average box office for a German film in South Korea, 2010-2014: EUR 571,225
6
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
(2) DISTRIBUTORS OF GERMAN FILMS IN SOUTH KOREA
(A) STUDIO AFFILIATE
Sony Pictures (South Korea)
2012 RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION
(B) INDEPENDENTS
4 TITLES
Company L
2010 DIE TÜR
2014 DIE FRAU HINTER DER WAND; FÜNF FREUNDE; KREUZWEG
2 TITLES
Jinjin Pictures
2011 DIE FRISEUSE; TANZTRÄUME
Lotte Entertainment
2011 JASPER UND DAS LIMONADENKOMPLOTT
2011 THE THREE MUSKETEERS
Mountain Pictures
2013 NANGA PARBAT
2014 DER MONDMANN
Sejong Communications
2014 DIE BIENE MAJA - DER KINOFILM; FACK JU GÖHTE
Sponge Entertainment
2011 SOUL KITCHEN
2013 BARBARA
7
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
TCast
2011 DREI
2014 CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA
OTHERS
Apex Entertainment Co
2013 RITTER ROST - EISENHART UND VOLL VERBEULT
AUD
2010 GELIEBTE CLARA
Focus & Company
2014 DER TEUFELSGEIGER
JMD Entertainment
2010 NORDWAND
KT&G Sansangmadang
2012 A DANGEROUS METHOD
Mediasoft Films
2010 THE LAST STATION
Musee Entertainment
2014 NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON
N.E.W.
2013 CLOUD ATLAS
Next Entertainment World
2014 LOVE, ROSIE
8
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
Old Face
2010 WÜSTENBLUME
Peterpan Pictures
2010 DAS WEISSE BAND
PoongKyung SoRi
2011 VISION - AUS DEM LEBEN DER HILDEGARD VON BINGEN
Sane Company
2014 DER 7BTE ZWERG
SBS
2012 KONFERENZ DER TIERE
Sidus Pictures
2014 TARZAN 3D
ThanksCo Company
2014 HECTOR AND THE SEARCH FOR HAPPINESS
(3) DVD AND VOD IN SOUTH KOREA
The Korean Film Council (KOFIC), generally restricts itself to the theatrical market, and statistical information on the home entertainment market does not
appear to be available. The prevailing belief in the Korean industry is that the DVD business is on the way out, unable to compete with rampant piracy on the
one hand and the fastest average broadband rates in the world on the other. In 2001, for instance, there were roughly 10,000 video rental and retail stores in
Korea; by 2008, this had shrunk to 3,500 – a decline of 65%. DVD revenue appears to have plummeted even more sharply: according to a May 2011 KOFIC
report, turnover had shrunk from KRW 800 billion (€540 million) in 2002 to KRW220 billion (€149 million) in 2008 – a decline of 72.5%. This is in inverse
proportion to the growth of the theatrical market over the same period.
The business is not entirely dead, however, and a comprehensive analysis of the titles available to Korean buyers on the pan-Asia online shopping site
yesasia.com suggests well-stocked shelves and a good range of European titles. The following chart includes non-Korean and non-English-language movies
only. The German titles are too numerous to list here, but cover the usual range, from 1920s classics to contemporary movies, and for once include such
9
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
video stand-bys as Bavarian sex comedies (a box set is available). What sales traffic there is, we have no way of knowing. But availability of titles is, in any
area of the film business, an essential starting point – a foot in the door, in other words, albeit a very tentative one.
South Korea: European DVD titles available to buy on yesasia.com
France
Spain
Italy
Germany
Poland
Sweden
Denmark
Portugal
Netherlands
VOD is even harder to quantify and we have been unable to find any site with accessible (i.e non-password-protected) content information in either Korean or
English. However we are largely confident about the following:
• with Korea still the country with the highest average internet connection speed in the world (21 Mbt/s – 40% faster than nearest rival Japan), the conditions
are ideal for content to be delivered by internet, as is most of the country’s TV and pay-TV programming;
• the VOD market is dominated by offshoots of two of Korea’s most powerful corporations: KT (Olleh) TV, owned and operated by KT Corporation (formerly
Korea Telecom); and Samsung u+TV, operated by the company that supplies most of the world’s smart TVs;
• branded content seems to work, to judge by the decision of US majors Warner Bros., Sony and Disney to set up their own VOD platforms;
10
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
• on the basis of patterns found in other forms of home entertainment, content is likely to be 50% Korean, 45% Hollywood, with the rest of the world
supplying the smallest slice of the VOD cake.
For German films, the message seems to be that all-platform deals are the only option, in the hope that a Korean partner will see a way to squeeze some
value out of the last link in the audiovisual chain.
(4) SOUTH KOREA: COMMENTARY
South Korea has pretty much taken over from Japan as the cinematic powerhouse of East Asia, with an energetic presence at the world’s film markets and a
new generation of filmmakers gaining renown on the international film festival circuit. While the theatrical market seemed to be struggling to cope with the
instant-gratification challenge of the internet at the end of the 2000s, the theatrical business seems subsequently not only to have survived but to be
prospering.
Per capita annual attendance, which had dropped below three visits a year in 2010, has surged back to 4.3 – one of the highest rates in the world (France’s is
3.2, the US’s 3.8) – and other indicators are equally positive. Over the five-year period surveyed here, admissions soared in Korea by 44% and box office by
68% (although some of the latter may be explained by increased ticket prices and exchange-rate fluctuations). There is also, it should be noted, one statistic
that defies interpretation: according to KOFIC, 1,117 films were released in 2014 – almost four times the number for 2010. Since there are no other signs of
this cinematic flood (which would amount to 22 new releases a week throughout the year), we must assume that the criteria have been extended to include
non-theatrical releases – or, more likely, direct-to-VOD titles.
Korean audiences remain fiercely loyal to local films, which were until comparatively recently protected by import quotas. Thus the audience for foreign
films, including Hollywood blockbusters, averages out at around 100 million, with that for foreign films much lower. Acquisitions executives, however,
continue to trawl the world’s festivals and markets in search of product and, as the details of distributors of German films in 2 (b) above indicates, the
number of boutique operations continues to escalate. An appetite for less commercial fare certainly seems to exist.
The VOD market, meanwhile, is taking flight. The DVD era may be over, but the delivery of image-based home entertainment remains a vibrant part of the
Korean economy. The balance, however, is inevitably shifting towards new technological platforms. Cable is especially well-established in Korea, so IPTV
suppliers are struggling to be able to offer a competitive sign-up package. But the potential rewards are so huge and the pockets of platforms such as KT and
Samsung so deep that this is more a speed bump than a barrier.
11
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
(5) GERMAN FILMS IN SOUTH KOREA
Despite the array of distributors involved – or perhaps because there was no single distributor regularly championing them – Korea has remained a
relatively minor territory for German films, with the only ones to make regular impact being those that could ‘pass for’ Hollywood (the usual suspects: THE
THREE MUSKETEERS, RESIDENT EVIL and CLOUD ATLAS), plus children’s movies such as TARZAN 3D, DIE BIENE MAJA and RITTER ROST.
Arthouse titles such as DAS WEISSE BAND, SOUL KITCHEN and BARBARA, which generally achieved crossover status in other markets, sold less than
20,000 tickets between them in Korea – with the latter, according to sales agent The Match Factory, effectively shown unauthorised and unpaid for by
distributor Sponge Entertainment.
The trend, however, seems to be upwards, with half the Top 10 Films 2010-2014 released in 2014.
There is insufficient data to draw any conclusions about VOD, but the DVD retailer analysed above keeps a good back-catalogue of German films alongside
more recent releases.
Theatrically, however, while the number of German stories and arthouse titles released make up the majority of openings – with a particular surge in 2014,
when double the usual number of films opened – they accounted for just 7% of box-office returns to German films. Overall, in a market of 50 million people
delivering an average of EUR 937 million at the box office, German films could manage at best (2014) a box-office share of 0.74%.
The charts on the following page show numbers of releases and box office revenue for the key groups identified in the introduction to this Report.
12
Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films
South Korea: Titles released by category
Festival & arthouse
English-language
Children's films
German stories
South Korea: Categories by box office
Festival & arthouse
English-language
Children's films
German stories
(6) SOUTH KOREA: SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
XE Currency Converter, HAN Cinema, KOFIC (Korean Film Council), KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency), ITS (International Telecommunications Society),
yesasia.com, Cinando, Unifrance, Box Office Mojo, European Audiovisual Observatory.
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Market Study South Korea 2010-2014, Oct 2015, by Split Screen for German Films

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