CJ CGV, one of Korea's leading exhibitors, reported a 59.5% market share for Korean films in the domestic market during the first six months of 2006. This amounts to a growth of 3.7% compared to last year. Seven of the ten best performing films were Korean.
Cinema admissions grew in the first six months with a 28.7% rise compared to the first half of 2005, selling 80.8 million tickets, though the success of Korean cinema and total ticket sales are largely due to the unprecedented success of the box office hit King and the Clown. The film sold a record breaking 11.8 million tickets in Korea.
Korean films performed mostly well in the first few months of 2006. The King and the Clown had particularly strong back-up from the comedy My Boss, My Teacher, which drew 6.1 million admissions (a new record for a comedy).
However some Korean titles were highly anticipated, but unable to impress. Big-budget films like "Typhoon" and Daisy disappeared soon from the cinema circuit due to lukewarm interest from the public. In May and June, meanwhile, it was Hollywood films which attracted the most viewers.
More big-budget Hollywood films are slated for release in the coming months, but a number of strong Korean films are also lined-up for the second part of 2006; including Bong Joon-ho's The Host, Kang Woo-seok's Hanbando, Park Chan-wook's I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK.
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