[Cinementary] ‘Big Punch’ Ma Dong-seok and the Second Coming of 10 Million Movies

     At 3 pm on the 4th, Lotte Cinema World Tower Branch 20.

Before the start of the movie, the 380-seat screening hall was filled with spectators.

In particular, the front row was occupied by young female audiences.

the moderator exclaimed.

“Please welcome us with a big round of applause from Chu.Ang.” 

 “Clan Goo” Son Seok-gu, followed by Choi Gwi-hwa, Park Ji-hwan, and Ma Dong-seok appeared.

Ma Dong-seok, who grabbed the microphone, said.

“This is actor Ma Dong-seok, who plays the role of Mi-jeong Yeom in Crime City 2.”

Laughter erupted from the audience.

Ma Dong-seok's humor is one of the key elements of the Crime City franchise.

In the last bathroom fight scene of "Crime City", villain Chang Chen asks detective Ma Seok-do, "Are you alone?"

Maseokdo responds skillfully.

“Yeah, I’m single.”

Even in the last bus fight scene of episode 2, the dialogue between the villains Hae-sang Kang and Seok-do Ma shows the essence of Dong-seok Ma's humor, which surpasses that of episode 1. 

     The 4th was the day “Crime City 2” surpassed 8.3 million in cumulative audience.

Ma Dong-seok and the main actors, who are not very good at interviewing the media, went around the stage greetings at theaters all over Seoul all day.

And just a week later, just yesterday, “Crime City 2” climbed to the top of the 10 million movie list.

It is the first 10 million movie since the corona pandemic and the 20th Korean movie with 10 million won. 

There were many opinions that it is difficult now and that it will not be easy in the future.

Even within the film industry, there were many voices saying that it is difficult to return to the era of 10 million films, so we should find another way.

It was based on the analysis that the audience's habit of 'watching' movies would have changed into a 'watching' habit at home due to the advancement of streaming services such as “Squid Game” and social distancing.

“Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Chaos,” which was released two weeks after the social distancing was lifted, also had the same momentum in the beginning, but the audience stayed at 5.8 million.

However, Ma Dong-seok's 'Big Punch' (which is also the name of the production company Ma Dong-seok made) broke the wall of 10 million movies in one shot. 

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Ma Dong-seok's first 10 million movie is “Train to Busan” (2016), but it was in “Veteran (2015)” that he was imprinted in my mind.

In the last scene, he only appeared briefly as the president of the art box, but he was a scene stealer who showed his presence at once.

Except for “Veteran,” who made a cameo appearance, Ma Dong-seok has appeared in four 10 million films so far.

“Train to Busan” (2016), “Along with God-Crime and Punishment” (2017), “Along with God- Causality and Relationship” (2018), and “Crime City 2”.

"Crime City 2" is the first so-called 'one-top starring'.

It is unknown how many thousands of viewers “Crime City 2” will mobilize (it depends on the theater). Only in June, Korean films such as “The Broker”, “The Witch 2”, “Decision to break up” and “Top Gun: Maverick”, “ This is because foreign films such as “Buzz Light Year” are lined up.

The film that mobilized the most audiences among all Korean films was “Myeongnyang” (2014), which was listened to by about 17.6 million people. 

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     The history of 10 million Korean films begins in 2003 with “Silmido” directed by Kang Woo-seok and starring Seol Kyung-gu.

“You heard 10 million people?

Is that possible?”

At that time, 10 million was a huge number that was not well felt.

(To be honest, it’s a figure that is still hard to realize even now, to be honest with one in five people.) But once the dam collapsed, from 2004, the following year, director Kang Je-gyu’s “Taegeukgi Flying” and director Lee Jun-ik’s “The King’s Man” (2005) ) and director Bong Joon-ho's “The Monster” (2006), which released 10 million films for the third year in a row.

For the next five years, director Yoon Je-gyun’s “Haeundae” (2009) alone recorded 10 million movies, but in 2012 “The Thieves” and “Gwanghae-The Man Who Became King” reached 10 million at the same time, and in 2013, “Room 7” of “The Gift”, “The Attorney” in 2014, “Myeongryang” and “Kukje Market” in 2015, “Assassination” and “Veteran” in 2015.

There are directors who have recorded that difficult 10 million films twice, Bong Joon-ho (“The Monster” 2006, “Parasite” 2019), Choi Dong-hoon (“The Thieves” 2012, “The Assassination” 2015), Yoon Je-gyun (“Haeundae” 2009, “International Mayor 2014) and Yonghwa Kim (“Along with God-Crime and Punishment” 2017, “Along with God-Causality and Kite” 2018) are those.

Among these, director Bong Joon-ho can only be described as exceptional in terms of capturing both artistry and popularity.      

The background to the release of 10 million films is the industrial background of the introduction of a multi-screen theater (multiplex).

The complex started with the opening of 'CGV Gangbyeon 11' in 1998.

After that, as Lotte Cinema and Megabox joined, the complex dominated the Korean film market.

As of 2021, 440 theaters, or 81%, of 542 theaters nationwide are multiplexes, and multiplexes own 3060 theaters, or 94% of 3254 screens nationwide.

The multiplex sales share of total theater sales reached 95.3%.

One of the backgrounds of 10 Million Movies is to play on huge screens all at once to make a profit and then go out after about a month.

Let's take a closer look from 2005, when we can get proper audience statistics.

Until 2009's "Transformers: Strikes Back" occupied 1,154 screens, the box office averaged only 541 screens.

After “Transformers,” the so-called “wide release” phenomenon intensified.

Excluding two films in 2013, “The Gift of Room 7” and “The Attorney” (both distributed by NEW, not an affiliate of a large corporation), the 10 million films since 2012 have only been released in films with more than 1,000 screens.

(“The King and the King” released in 2005 is the only film to have reached the 10 million mark with fewer than 500 screens) However, in 2017, director Ryoo Seung-wan’s “Battleship Island”, which was invested and distributed by CJ, caused a major controversy over screen monopoly.

“Battleship Island” was screened on 2027 screens out of 2,575 screens nationwide.

It was the first time a movie had more than 2,000 screens on its release date.      

  What is the situation now, 5 years after that?

“Crime City 2” started with 2,200 screens on the opening day, and 2,496 were shot on the fifth day of release.

In the second week, more than 2300 screens were secured every day, and in the third week, more than 1300 screens were recorded.

Yesterday, when the audience exceeded 10 million, “Crime City 2” was screened on more than 1,500 screens.

However, in the aftermath of the corona virus, until just a couple of months ago, theaters had reached a point where they had to worry about the 'existence of the business', so there has not been a big monopoly controversy yet.

The harm of monopoly and oligopoly is great in any field of industry.

There is nothing more to say about the cultural industry.

Now is the time to recover like a patient who has woken up from a long illness, so an understanding of the theater industry is dominant, but if the sweeping of theaters continues after a certain point, small and medium-sized films and independent art films will protest.

First of all, it is a matter of interest whether the entire Korean film industry will recover from the virtuous cycle as the audience continues to the theater district as it is now.

(Please don't use the word 'retaliation'. As you all know, retaliation is not a word used for this kind of thing)

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     In fact, Ma Dong-seok is more of a superhero than just a homicide detective.

The audience doesn't worry that Maseokdo will be severely damaged.

We go to see how he beats the villain with a breeze and shows off the power of one shot.

Movies are the factory of dreams, and people want a 'fist captain' superhero like Ma Dong-seok.

Movies are not just a dream factory for the audience.

Even for producers and investors who have entered the show business, which is close to the speculative industry, movies are a dream factory where they make a lot of money.

Ma Dong-seok also produced this film.

This means that when the movie comes off the screen, the return on investment is shared.

Of the audience's admission fee, the remaining profit after being deducted to the theater is usually shared by the investor and the production company in a ratio of 6 to 4.

The sales of “Crime City 2” exceeded 100 billion won.

(Based on Statistics from the Korea Film Council) “Crime City 2” was cranked in in April 2020, when the industry contracted due to the corona outbreak.

Did Ma Dong-seok say this before making “Crime City 2”?