4.7 million Director of ‘Suzume’s Lockdown’ fulfills pledge to return to Korea

Makoto Shinkai, director of the movie 'Suzume's Door Break', returns to Korea and meets audiences from all over the country, from Seoul, Busan, and Jeju.

According to distributor Showbox Co., Ltd. on the 19th, director Makoto Shinkai will return to Korea to express his gratitude for the box office success of ‘Suzume’s Lockdown.’

Previously, director Makoto Shinkai promised that he would visit Korea again when the number of viewers exceeded 3 million. ‘Suzume’s Lockdown’ has currently surpassed 4.7 million viewers. Accordingly, director Makoto Shinkai will visit Korea from the 27th to the 30th. The pledges made through an event in Korea last month were quickly kept within a month and a half.

'Suzume's Lockdown' not only set a record of maintaining the top spot at the box office for 35 consecutive days after its release, but also stood tall as the top box office hit among films released in 2023, recording a total cumulative audience of 4.73 million. This figure far exceeds the 3 million viewers originally promised, and continues to be a hot box office success, sweeping the top spot for Japanese movies released domestically of all time.

Director Makoto Shinkai plans to visit Seoul, Busan, and Jeju to repay the enthusiastic support of domestic audiences. At the Seoul GV event, the surprise appearance of Jang Yena, Jeong Ju-won, Lee Kyung-tae, and Lee Seon-yul, the voice actors for the Korean dubbed version scheduled to be released in May, is raising curiosity. In addition, GV is expected to tell richer and more colorful stories, with writer Kim Se-yoon serving as moderator.

Meanwhile, 'Suzume's Lockdown' is a story about a girl, Suzume, who accidentally opens a door that causes disaster, and desperately tries to close it to prevent disasters occurring throughout Japan, and is being screened to rave reviews in theaters across the country.

Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr