With doom and gloom abound, much of it generated by the local film industry itself, the first half of 2009 heralded welcome news. KOFIC has announced record box office receipts - a 4.7% increase year on year increase for the first 6 months of 2009. This figure translates into an increase of 72.1 million admissions, and a box office increase that beats the previous record set in the first six months of 2006. This is significant because 2006 marked the crescendo of an enlarging Korean film industry and a period that some consider to be the golden years of Korean film especially in terms of increasing admissions.
The news gets even better for local films that saw a 7.5% box office increase at the detriment of U.S. films dropping from 54% to 45%. At 44.7% local films were on par with their Hollywood counterparts. Much of this increase was due to the two 'sleeper' hits of the year, the independent farmer/cow documentary "Old Partner" and comedy "Scandal Makers" ("Speedy Scandal"). Other local films in the top ten included "A Frozen Flower" and "My Girlfriend is an Agent".
Significantly, this news comes at a time when all major cinema chains announced increases in ticket prices. Prices have now jumped from 7000 won for weekday movies to 8000 won (U.S. $6.3)
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