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Comedy films dominate box office again

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A scene from the comedy film
A scene from the comedy film "Inside Me" / Courtesy of Merry Christmas

By Park Jin-hai

Korean cinemas are set to rebound as several comedies have drawn positive responses from moviegoers following crushing performances of much-anticipated local films in the box office last year.

With "Inside Me" at the forefront, a low-budget comedy with a surprise box office success, a slew of other comedies are slated to screen in coming months.

With no big name hallyu stars, "Inside Me," directed by Kang Hyo-jin, premiered without much media publicity on Jan. 9.

But the film, telling the story of a gangster-turned-businessman and a schoolboy who have exchanged bodies, has continues to attract moviegoers. The film surpassed 1 million ticket sales on its eighth day and is nearing its 1.5 million break-even point.

Although the plot of souls being switched has been told many times in other films, "Inside Me" is being praised for its wit and humor. With the help of word of mouth, the film's second weekday admission average rose by 10,000 people from the opening weekday average.

"Like many others, we are also surprised to see the film's box office result," said Kim Dong-hyun, director of the film's distributor Merry Christmas. "It is faithful to the genre of comedy and if we found the niche, we thought we might stand a chance of success amongst the glitzy blockbusters."

With distributors preferring crime thrillers and dark films over the comedy genre for many years, the film, which finished shooting at the end of 2017, took a year to find its distributor.

A scene from the film
A scene from the film "Extreme Job"업/ Courtesy of CJ Entertainment
Action comedy "Extreme Job," directed by Lee Byeong-heon, whose previous films include "Twenty" (2015) and "What a Man Wants" (2018), will hit cinemas on Wednesday.

Starring Ryu Seung-young and Lee Ha-nee, the film tells the story of a team of narcotic detectives who go undercover inside a fried chicken shop to crack down on an organized crime ring. But things take an unexpected turn when the detectives' chicken shop earns sudden fame as the hottest eatery in town.

A scene from the film
A scene from the film "The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale" / Courtesy of Megabox
Another anticipated comedy is "The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale," which will premiere on Feb. 14. The film revolves around a zombie family, which escapes the lab and settles in a small rural town. The twist is that those bitten by the zombies regain their youth.

Since the film's trailer was unveiled, the film has had strong responses from viewers in their teens and 20s, according to promoter PR Planet.

Industry insiders say "Luck-Key" (2016), starring Yoo Hae-jin, was the catalyst to revive the comedy genre. The small-budget, Korean-language adaptation of the 2012 Japanese comedy "Key of Life" about a hired killer who loses his memory after slipping on soap and hitting his head on the bathroom floor attracted a total audience of about 7 million viewers.

"With the same script, comedy is a genre that can be made into very different films, depending on directing, acting performance and editing," said Kim of Merry Christmas.

"Even with a good script, production companies can hardly predict its box office success and tended to avoid comedy scripts for a while. But things have changed after the success of 'Luck-Key.'"

Last year, comedy films were small in number but had meaningful successes at the box office. "Keys to the Heart" sold 3.4 million tickets, 1 million sold for "What a Man Wants," and 5 million for 'Intimate Strangers.'"

Kim Dae-hee, an official from multiplex cinema chain CGV, said, "The recent popularity of comedy films shows that many audiences' wish to laugh and forget about the hardships in reality.

"In the first half of this year, we expect comedy to go mainstream in the local cinema industry."


Park Jin-hai jinhai@koreatimes.co.kr


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