The movie industry could lose another billion dollars in revenue by closing movie theaters and cinemas, postponing movie premieres, canceling screenings, and closing box offices. If the pandemic will not be stopped and no cure has been discovered yet, who knows what kind of films we can see later this year and early next year?
Although the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) and the Korean government agency for the film industry have already launched preventive measures to fight against COVID-19 in movie theaters, most moviegoers remain hesitant to go out and head to the cinemas to watch the movies they want.
This then goes down to a new solution by the council.
To encourage people to watch movies in cinemas, the Korean Film Council will give out coupons to give discounts starting June 1 for three weeks only. This is a way of the council, which is funded by the state, to revive the film industry amidst the pandemic.
According to Statista, in 2019, it was estimated to have 2.5 trillion won in sales revenue from the movie industry. They have eventually lost a staggering amount since the pandemic. How much more if this continues?
Last week, the Korean Film Council announced that moviegoers would be able to receive a KRW 6,000 (USD 4.90) discount for every movie ticket, from the usual 10,000 won it is almost sixty percent discount if you avail the coupons. But moviegoers need to know that it is only applicable for films that are screened from Thursday to Sunday.
CGV, Megabox, and Lotte Cinema, the three biggest multiplexes, will give out coupons in their respective official websites on a first-come-first-serve basis and are only limited to two coupons per person per week.
Meanwhile, Cine Q stated that if you want to reserve your tickets, then you will receive the discount within the time period, and you are allowed to get four tickets for every person every week.
The state agency added that a portion of the coupons would be shared with cinemas that are smaller and independent in some local theater.
The agency initially planned to have this set up on May 21, in line with the easing of social distancing protocol, but there was sudden news of the COVID19 infection in Itaewon. Hence, the agency decided to postpone this kind of promotion.
Compared to the number of moviegoers last year of April, it dropped by around ninety-four percent compared to this year. And the sales have reached a seventy percent decrease as well.South Korea is considered the fourth-largest box office territory in the world. They had a robust film industry, but the pandemic has limited their theater attendance.
So far, an estimated seventy-five new films have postponed their release.
In Seoul, since there were fresh outbreaks at large workspaces, the government reinstituted stern physical distancing until June 14.
Nevertheless, several new commercial movies are coming to the theaters in the following weeks, and they anticipate that the movie industry will get back on track.
KOFIC reassures the public that strict social distancing will be observed, temperatures will be checked, and several protocols, including wearing a face mask and proper sanitation, will be followed by the moviegoers and the staff of the cinemas.
