'Taegukgi' Aims to Fly High at the Box Office
Published on | Source
by Jeon Sang-hee
"The Korean Flag Waves", scheduled for release on Feb. 6, boasts the potential to be the country's biggest blockbuster yet. The fact that it's directed by proven box-office master Kang Je-gyu is enough to draw attention, but the polish on the chrome is the film's two biggest movie stars of this age, Jang Dong-gun and Weon Bin. On Chungmu-ro, the studio isn't even bothering to do the marketing research -- they're confident that every single movie fan alive will known about the film. People are looking at every aspect of what is expected to rewrite Korean cinematic history.
The hype surrounding "The Korean Flag Waves", which has set for itself the goal of drawing 10 million moviegoers, is truly astounding.
Showbox, in charge of the film's distribution, is looking to set a record for most screen showings during a film's opening week. The current Korean record holder, "Shilmido", was shown on 325 screens nationwide during its opening week. Showbox plans to shatter that record by putting the film on roughly 400 screens in the first seven days of its release.
Ahn Su-jin, who works for the film's publicity agency Movie People, predicted that the movie's goal would be easily reached, since orders from theater owners to show the film are flooding in. The film is pursuing an aggressive advertising strategy as well, running trailers on 800 theaters nationwide. Compared with normal films, which usually run their trailers on around 600 screens, it's easy to grasp just how great the hype is.
The film's advanced showing, too, will be on a vast scale. On Feb. 3, the film will hold its "1070 Preview" at Megabox theaters across the country. The preview, which seeks to draw "all citizens, from teenagers to 70-year olds", will give roughly 10,000 viewers the chance to enjoy the movie.
The marketing costs of "The Korean Flag Waves" have come out to about W2 billion. Kookmin Bank and other corporations, however, have provided another W2 billion in support, so the marketing bill for the film is reckoned to be about W4 billion: far above the production costs of most Korean films.
"The Korean Flag Waves", scheduled for release on Feb. 6, boasts the potential to be the country's biggest blockbuster yet. The fact that it's directed by proven box-office master Kang Je-gyu is enough to draw attention, but the polish on the chrome is the film's two biggest movie stars of this age, Jang Dong-gun and Weon Bin. On Chungmu-ro, the studio isn't even bothering to do the marketing research -- they're confident that every single movie fan alive will known about the film. People are looking at every aspect of what is expected to rewrite Korean cinematic history.
The hype surrounding "The Korean Flag Waves", which has set for itself the goal of drawing 10 million moviegoers, is truly astounding.
Showbox, in charge of the film's distribution, is looking to set a record for most screen showings during a film's opening week. The current Korean record holder, "Shilmido", was shown on 325 screens nationwide during its opening week. Showbox plans to shatter that record by putting the film on roughly 400 screens in the first seven days of its release.
Ahn Su-jin, who works for the film's publicity agency Movie People, predicted that the movie's goal would be easily reached, since orders from theater owners to show the film are flooding in. The film is pursuing an aggressive advertising strategy as well, running trailers on 800 theaters nationwide. Compared with normal films, which usually run their trailers on around 600 screens, it's easy to grasp just how great the hype is.
The film's advanced showing, too, will be on a vast scale. On Feb. 3, the film will hold its "1070 Preview" at Megabox theaters across the country. The preview, which seeks to draw "all citizens, from teenagers to 70-year olds", will give roughly 10,000 viewers the chance to enjoy the movie.
The marketing costs of "The Korean Flag Waves" have come out to about W2 billion. Kookmin Bank and other corporations, however, have provided another W2 billion in support, so the marketing bill for the film is reckoned to be about W4 billion: far above the production costs of most Korean films.
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