Klook.com

Thursday, March 23, 2023

The movie tickets are too expensive? There's nothing to watch? ... Over 7,000 comments discuss the crisis in the Korean Cinema Industry

 

> Will the crisis be resolved by lowering the price of movie tickets? That's not the case

First of all, let's talk about the price of movie tickets. Many people in the comment state that movie tickets are expensive. Choi Donghoon, the director of the movies 'Tazza' and 'Assassination', publicly points out that the price of movie tickets should be adjusted. 

However, rather than lowering the price of movie tickets, the Cinema Industry needs to invest more in the theatres, technology, etc, in order to attract more audiences. Just like how classical and musical shows still attract audiences despite their tickets that cost hundreds of thousands of won, audiences wouldn't mind paying more if they think what they get is worth the price. 

For example, 53% out of tens of millions of viewers of 'Avatar: The Way of Water' chose to watch the movie in special theatres that cost more than the regular theatres. The same applies to 'I'm Hero The Final' which shows the live performances of singer Im Youngwoong, the number of viewers who chose to watch the movie in Screen X theater, which is more expensive, is twice the number of viewers who chose to watch in the regular theater. 

The question here is 'Can the theater provide an experience that is worth the price of 15,000 KRW (11.70 USD)?'. The Cinema Industry is aware of this. This is the reason why they're focusing more on planning events like cheer screenings in the theaters these days. The theater has its own upsides that can't be experienced by OTT viewers who are only watching from their phones.

Unfortunately, not all movies are suitable for cheer screenings. If the movie itself is not interesting for viewers, the advantage that theatres have become meaningless. This opinion is shown through comments that say, "I will only go to the cinema if the movie is interesting. If it's boring, I won't watch it even if it was free." 

theqoo

-I'm sure most people these days have 75-inch TVs at home, they would just wait until the movies are released on OTT platforms and watch them at home instead... I personally only watch movies in cinemas if they are worth the price, but I still have to admit that movie tickets are really expensive. I thought a lot of cinemas closed down during the pandemic, I guess some of them are still in business...

-I no longer watch movies in cinemas because the tickets are freaking expensive. It's been so f*cking long since the last time I went there.

-It's too late for them to lower the ticket prices now. I used to go to cinemas a lot back then, though. Lately, I just watch them on OTT platforms. 

-That's the problem. I'd watch movies in cinemas if the tickets weren't that expensive. 

-We have OTT platforms now. There's no reason to pay 15,000 KRW to watch movies in cinemas.

-There's a lot to watch on OTT platforms now, so why would I pay that much to watch movies in cinemas?ㅋㅋㅋ

-Just keep up the price and you'll go out of business soon~

-It's weird how they compare the cinema industry to the classical and musical show industry...

-The cinema industry can go to hell. I can barely even eat and survive with the money I make.

-Okay then, insist on keeping up the price, do whatever floats your boat. You'll go out of business soon, then~ The viewers have nothing to lose...

trazy.com