'The King's Man'·'The Wailing'·'COLONY'.. Showbox Tops Three Korean Film Box Office [First Half Movie Review ②]

*This content was translated by AI.

• [2026 ★First Half Review]

The Korean film industry in the first half of this year finally showed a clear recovery, earning evaluations that "Korean films have come back to life." At the center of this trend was Showbox, which led a box office relay from "If We Were Us" to "The King's Man," "The Wailing," and "COLONY."

Starting with "If We Were Us" (director Kim Do-young, 2.6 million viewers), followed by "The King's Man" (director Jang Hang-jun, 16.9 million viewers), "The Wailing" (director Lee Sang-min, 3.24 million viewers), and "COLONY" (director Yeon Sang-ho, 5.6 million viewers), Showbox's Korean films achieved consecutive box office successes, injecting new vitality into the previously sluggish theater market.

Compared to last year's top-grossing Korean film "Zombie Daughter" (5.64 million viewers), this year's diverse lineup across multiple genres achieved balanced box office results, marking a significant milestone in driving overall market recovery.

Showbox proved its presence by achieving box office success with every film released in the first half. The four films collectively attracted 28.21 million viewers and generated approximately 279.8 billion won in revenue (as of June 25), positioning Showbox at the heart of the first-half Korean film market recovery.

Especially at the center of the first-half Korean film scene was "The King's Man." Blending imagination with historical context, "The King's Man" gained widespread acclaim through its solid storyline and powerful performances by actors such as Yoo Hae-jin and Park Ji-hoon after its release during the Lunar New Year holiday. The film's impact extended beyond theaters, as visitor numbers to Yeongwol Cheongnyeongpo, the exile site of King Danjong, surged significantly, creating a cultural phenomenon around "The King's Man."

In a period when ten-million-viewer films had declined and concerns about the stagnation of Korean films persisted, audiences once again demonstrated that high-quality Korean films still draw them to theaters. As a result, "The King's Man" mobilized 16.9 million viewers, achieving the second-highest box office performance in history after "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (2014, 17.61 million viewers).

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the Korean film with the highest viewership was "Spring in Seoul" (13.12808 million viewers). "The King's Man" surpassed this record, becoming the most-watched Korean film released since the pandemic began.

The box office momentum of "The King's Man" extended to subsequent Korean films. After winning the Grand Prize in the Film Category at the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards, Yoo Hae-jin remarked, "When I visited the theater for the stage greeting, it felt lively again. I was glad and happy that audiences rediscovered the charm of theaters that had been forgotten. It seems the energy from 'The King's Man' is flowing into 'The Wailing,' and I'm pleased to see multiple films capturing audience interest."

As he predicted, following "The King's Man," the horror film "The Wailing" and the zombie film "COLONY" both far exceeded their break-even points and achieved box office success. While the genres and themes differed, all four films consistently proved that audiences willingly visit theaters for high-quality content.

Showbox is scheduled to release "Heavy Snow," starring Kim Yun-seok and Koo Kyo-hwan, in the second half of the year. As Showbox stood at the forefront of the theater revival in the first half, attention now turns to whether it can continue driving box office trends in the second half and lead the broader recovery of the Korean film market.

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*This content was translated by AI.