Appealing to the Audience.
Scandal premiered on October 2 and sold two million tickets in 11 days, remaining the top box office hit for two consecutive weeks. The long-term box-office record is expected as it claimed more than 60 percent of total online ticket sales. We will examine the appealing points of this movie.
How Popular: As of October 12, its total audience reached 2.19 million nationwide, and 830,000 in Seoul alone. It leads the biggest blockbuster of the first half of this year, Memories of Murder (1.38 million) by 810,000 tickets.
The cinemas responses are varied. As for Bundangs two CGVs, located in the residential areas, the early-bird tickets (around 10 a.m.) on the weekdays are being sold out. One CGV manager, Kwon Dong-yup said, Most of the audiences in this time-frame are females in their 40s and 50s.
Cha Seung-jae, representative of Sidus, said, I think it the films high perfection which is attracting the audience. Its a film with a possibility of attracting three to four million people.
Nevertheless, it does have some weak points. Ticket sales of Memories of Murder continued its upward trend even after the second week of release, but Scandal, just like the second biggest hit of the first half of the year, My Tutor Friend, is showing a decline in ticket sales. The disadvantage is that, while Friends and other blockbusters that attracted more than five million moviegoers moved both males and females in their 20s to 50s, the viewers of Scandal are mostly comprised of women.
How It Is Appealing: If we take it from a genre perspective, Scandal is a fusion film that effectively combines Koreas favorite genres: comedy, drama, and sex. Film critic Shim Young-sup said, The sexual aspect of the film is portrayed not in a regular folk-style but rather in a noble-style. He added, Such noble wrapping allows the audience to lighten their psychological burden in choosing Scandal. The film is funny and touching, yet sexy and noble all at the same time.
Secondly, there is the Bae Yong-jun effect. His young star image ended the stereotype that historical dramas are only for TV. It is estimated that his fans in their 20s and 30s are rushing to the movies. Scandal is Bae Yong-juns first film.
Third, the social openness to sex is helping the movies popularity. The concept of this film is destroying Chosun dynastys enchantress and playboys devoted lover. Film critic Jun Chan-il said, Scandals story cannot win the general publics approval, but it plays with social psychology, which resulted in its popularity, just like Singles and A Good Lawyers Wife.
Other points included: the ensemble of Lee Mee-sooks cold intuition and Bae Yong-juns playboy acting, the sophisticated and stable visual play of director Lee Jae-yong, a strong scenario that melted in modern-day speech style, and Lee Byung-woos score and two billion won high-end art.
The attention goes to whether Scandal will sustain its high ticket sales even after the release of Hwangsanbul on October 17.