Movie industry struggling with slowdown

"The Chaser (Chugyeokja)," a Korean thriller directed by Na Hong-jin, has turned out to be a surprising hit in the slump-laden local film industry in the first quarter. Released on Feb. 14, it is still showing strong performances at the box office, outsmarting other Korean and foreign competitors.

If the current trend continues, the ticket sales of the thriller is now expected to reach the 5-million landmark soon, possibly emerging as the most successful Korean film in the first half of 2008.

The trailblazing success of "The Chaser" at the box office reflects the dearth of successful Korean flicks. Even foreign films are not faring so well, with Hollywood blockbusters mysteriously absent in the box office slots.

The problem with the film lineup in April has been compounded by the current downturn hitting local productions and distributors hard.

Discouraged by the poor showings of major Korean films last year, production houses are delaying the release dates of some of the most promising movies like "Modern Boy" until the second half of this year.

Director Jung Ji-woo's "Modern Boy" features top-notch actors Park Hae-il and Kim Hye-soo in a retro style story set in the vibrant 1930s. A series of promotional materials touting the movie's delicate depiction of cafes, coffee shops, and department stores in that era have been distributed, but the film's production house decided to put off the release.

"The Good, The Bad, The Weird," a big-budget Korean film that unfolds in Manchuria, is also unlikely to greet local moviegoers any time soon. Well-known Korean Wave stars Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho and Jung Woo-sung play exotic roles -- a bandit, a train robber and a bounty hunter -- and expectations were rising high. But producers experienced cold feet about the negative sentiment in the film industry, rescheduling its release date to the second half.

The delays suggest that local production houses sponsoring big-budget projects are reluctant to stage a direct showdown with Hollywood blockbusters in the May-July period. At the same time, investors are highly cautious about Korean films, citing the frequent commercial failures and cutting off the much-needed funds for new projects. To reduce risks and stay afloat, production houses are taking all the steps necessary to turn a profit, leading to the lack of new releases in recent months.

On the weekend, Korean filmmaker Gong Su-chang's thriller "GP506" secured the top position at the box office, selling 190,000 tickets. Trailing behind were "Three Kingdoms," a Korea-China joint project that drew in 170,000 moviegoers. Even considering the slump, it is unusual when box-office leaders fall short of taking in less than 200,000 viewers.

This week, Korean-American director Lee Jie-ho's debut feature "The Air I Breathe" is hitting theaters featuring a high-profile American cast, including Brendan Fraser and Andy Garcia, in an labyrinthine tale. But this movie is unlikely to infuse a momentum to a box office stuck with slow ticket sales and an absence of major hits.