Although the film "Final Interview" has held the No. 1 spot at the box office for two consecutive days, its daily audience remains stalled in the low 10,000s.
According to the Korean Film Council's integrated computer network for cinema admission tickets on November 11, "Final Interview" drew 12,012 moviegoers nationwide on November 10. Its cumulative audience stands at 191,078. Released on November 4, "Final Interview" debuted at the top of the box office on its first day, but ceded the No. 1 spot over its opening weekend to the Japanese anime film "Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island". However, it reclaimed the box office summit starting on weekdays during its second week.
The problem is that the audience turnout is critically low. Even taking into account that these are weekdays, hovering in the low 10,000s in daily attendance for two straight days has raised red flags for its future box office prospects. An even greater concern is that this is not merely an issue for "Final Interview," but a sign that the entire theatrical market has entered a severe off-season slump.
Total attendance across all theaters that day was just 63,386. The overall number of patrons visiting cinemas—not the daily count for an individual film—fell below 100,000. This trend is highly likely to persist, as the drought of major blockbusters or buzzworthy releases is expected to continue until December, which is classified as a peak moviegoing season.
With "Dune: Part Three" and "Avengers: Doomsday" slated to hit theaters this coming December, films currently on the marquee have little choice but to hold out for as long as they can.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)