This year, when movie theaters were back to normal, what movies did you guys go to see?

With the advent of streaming services and changes in movie-watching habits, even if social distancing is lifted, 'Ten Million Movies', which was said to be difficult to come out again, unexpectedly reappeared soon.

Of course, “Crime City 2” may have a shimmering effect or a reflection effect, so the prudence prevails that it remains to be seen whether the emergence of 'Ten Million Movies' is a complete revival of the theater.

However, since this year, about 48 million people have visited the theater so far, so it is equivalent to one per citizen.

It's clear that the recovery is on the way, as audiences stayed at around 60 million in 2020 and 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was just around the corner.



     While looking at the box office rankings of movies released this year, I noticed something interesting.

At first, Crime City 2, Doctor Strange 2, and The Witch 2 were at the top, so I thought, “This year, there are a lot of sequels at the top of the box office.” Nine were franchise films called Sequel or Reboot.

(Before Corona, there were 5 episodes in 2019, “Steel Rain 2” 1 episode in 2020, and 5 episodes in 2021) 1st place was “Crime City 2”, 2nd place was “Doctor Strange: The Multiverse of Chaos”, 3rd is "Top Gun: Maverick", 4th is "Jurassic World: Dominion", 5th is "Witch 2", 6th is "Pirates: Goblin Flag" 7th is: Broker, 8th is "Fantastic Beasts" and Dumbledore's Secret",

9th is "The Batman" and 10th is "Things 2 Gather".

Take a look at the table below.



Enlarging an image

   Except for “The Broker,” directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, the rest of the films are sequels to movies that have already been released.

A sequel in a narrow sense refers to a 'sequel' that is a story after the original, but if you expand the concept, you can put prequels (warriors), sequels, remakes, reboots, and spin-offs all into one category.

It is a so-called franchise film.

Among the movies on the list, “The Pirates 2”, which has little to do with the main character and the plot, or “The Batman,” a reinterpretation of an existing Batman movie, can be called a 'reboot'.

Byeong-hee Jang, a professor of media communication at Sungkyunkwan University, who wrote the book “Factors in Film Success,” sees the sequel to the movie from the perspective of 'brand expansion'



.


A successful popular movie is also a brand, and a sequel is an extension of that brand.

Economically, cinema is an experience good.

It is difficult to know how much utility and satisfaction a movie will give me until I actually watch it.

This is the reason why countless words like “a thousand won is not worth” and “deceived” pour out when you go to movie rating sites.

As such, the so-called 'risk' is high for both the filmmaker and the audience.

Investors spend tens of billions of won to make a movie, but if it doesn't attract a lot of audience, it's going to go bankrupt. From the point of view of the audience, it's a waste of time and money if the movie isn't interesting after paying an expensive admission fee on purpose. 


   “The sequel reduces this risk.

If you make a movie that has already been successful, that is, a 'brand movie', the probability of re-watching it from existing audiences increases.

A sequel is a means of providing a safeguard for investors and audiences alike.”

Professor Jang said.

Prof. Zhang sees streaming services as the background behind the recent boom in sequels in particular.

As Netflix and Apple started producing, the number of films produced increased, and the probability of box office naturally decreased. 



   Kim Heon, a professor at Joongbu University, who wrote a doctoral dissertation titled 'The Impact of Movie Brand Expansion on Film Box-office Performance', explained why sequels are overflowing from another aspect.

From the producer's point of view, a sequel has the advantage of efficiently developing a story.

In other words, rather than writing a screenplay from a blank sheet of paper, writing a screenplay based on a character or story frame from a movie that has already become popular (branded) can save time and money.

Let’s take “Crime City 2” as an example.

This franchise film doesn't require you to change the cast each time.

The hero, Ma Seokdo's character is very clear and well recognized by the audience.

A superhero who subdues all criminals with a single blow from his bare fist.

Licorice supporting actors also have clear characters.

You only need to change the main villain each time.

The story structure is similar.

Absolutely catch it.

Action and humor are all over the place, and even in certain scenes, even the lines from the previous episode are recycled.

“To the room of truth” and “You can know everything about my brother”, etc. Every time the same lines as in the previous one appear, the audience doesn’t get tired of it, but rather likes it, which is the strength of the brand expansion movie.

Producer and lead actor Ma Dong-seok said that he will soon start filming for Crime City 3 and that he is already planning up to 8.


Enlarging an image

Light and Shadow


of a Sequel However, a sequel to a box office movie does not necessarily mean success.

A sequel should neither be too similar nor too different from the original.

It should satisfy the expectations of the audience who are expecting a similar enjoyment to the first part, but it shouldn't be made to be the same to prove and boring.

There are also negative effects of sequels on the film industry.

The mass production of similar franchise films reduces opportunities for a variety of films to be made and screened.

Also, the incentives and opportunities for creators to use their creativity and imagination to create new stories will decrease.  



 It is said that it is difficult to come up with a sequel that surpasses the well-made predecessor, but there are sequels that are more recognized and more successful in film history than their successful predecessors.

Following the first film, the sequel is the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, such as Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather 2" and James Cameron's "Alien 2" and "Terminator 2".

The review may be a little early, but “Top Gun: Maverick” cannot be left out.

But in the sequel, the so-called oblivion is also more than a placenta.

When filming with expectations over the popularity of the previous work, it often ruins not only the quality of the work but also the box office. 



   Going to the theaters is the summer season soon.

It is the season with the most audiences of the year.

The Big 4 Korean Movies are on the market this summer.

“Alien + Human Part 1”, “Hansan”, “Emergency Declaration” and “The Hunt” will be released every Wednesday for 4 consecutive weeks from July 20th.

All of them are Korean blockbusters that cost more than 20 billion won to make.

Among them, “Hansan” is the sequel to “Myeongryang,” the top-grossing movie of all time, and “Alien + Human” is produced and released sequentially, with the first and second parts simultaneously.

It means that the sequel was made in advance before the first part became a hit.

This is also a way to reduce risk by reducing production costs such as set and appearance fees.

Oh, and in December, the sequel to "Avatar," which holds the world's number one box office record, "Avatar: Water Road" will be released.

"Avatar" was directed by James Cameron, who directed "Alien 2" and "Terminator 2".

I'm already curious how the audience will react to these 'sequels'.



(

※ If you scroll down, you can see the 'Cinementary' subscription button and past episodes serialized every Sunday. Thank you for subscribing

)