TenAsia reporter Choi Ji-ye tells the story of the movie. We analyze every aspect of movies through live on-site reporting and write fun articles with sharp perspectives. Cherry blossoms are in full bloom and spring is quickly approaching. Although it is still chilly, the smell of the wind is different. April, a good spring season for outings, is traditionally the off-season for theaters. However, April is an even crueler month due to the sluggish performance of Korean movies that have been hitting rock bottom since the beginning of this year.
While the strength of Japanese animation has not waned with 'The First Slam Dunk' (directed by Takehiko Inoue) and 'Suzume's Lockdown' (directed by Makoto Shinkai), expectations from Korean film industry insiders are high for the Korean basketball movie 'Rebound' (directed by Jang Hang-jun). . This weekend's scores are expected to be a watershed as to whether 'Rebound' can break the long-standing slump in Korean films and revive the dying embers.
The momentum of ‘rebound’ is not bad. First, there is an expectation that the nostalgia for basketball brought about by 'The First Slam Dunk' and the sports narrative that can be enjoyed by all ages will lower the audience's threshold for going to the theater. The reviews from actual visitors are also good. There is synergy in the combination of the writer, director, and actor, and the emotion given by the true story continues to be evaluated as heavy and warm. The narrative is also well-received for being not cliché while following the unique pattern of sports movies.
'Rebound', on the 3rd day of release, had a cumulative audience of 77,380 as of the 6th. Although it cannot be said that the performance exceeded expectations, it is too early to make predictions as it has not yet welcomed weekend audiences in earnest. The industry predicts that if there are more than average weekend audiences and word of mouth spreads well, there is a possibility that it will gain wings. In the movie industry where word of mouth is important these days, if a fan base is formed, it will lead to the Nth number of viewings.
However, there are several points where it is difficult to be completely optimistic. Basically, there are fewer people visiting movie theaters. According to the integrated movie theater ticket network, the number of theater audiences this year as of last March was 25,147,858, which is less than half (45.7%) of the same period in 2019 (55,071,869) before COVID-19.
Officials are analyzing that the lifestyle of the public, who visited movie theaters in their leisure time before COVID-19, such as on a date with a lover, watching a movie with a family, or going out to the theater with friends, has not recovered. The reasons include ‘rising ticket prices’ and ‘popularization of OTT’. In addition, the factors that threatened the film industry still exist and there is little chance of them being resolved.
In this situation, the biggest enemy of the upcoming weekend 'rebound' is none other than the weather. This is the season when the mask mandate was lifted after COVID-19, and people who had been sheltering in place due to the cold weather are planning weekend outings to welcome spring. In this situation, movie officials say they want to at least offer an untimely 'rainbow offering'. Half-joking and half-serious jokes like, ‘I hope it rains this weekend’ are popping up all over the film industry.
An official said, "On Fridays before the weekend, we check the weather as if we were checking the box office. This is in the hope that if it rains, citizens who have left their homes will go to the theater." He complained, saying, “Still, the keyword ‘rainbow prayer’ was something that filmmakers used to laugh and joke about, but this year, we can’t just laugh about it.”
Choi Ji-ye, Ten Asia Reporter wisdomart@tenasia.co.kr