Premium Seats Reshaping Korea's Summer Box Office

South Korea's cinemas are enjoying their busiest summer in years, and much of the credit is going to premium and specialty screens rather than the multiplex as a whole. According to data released by CJ CGV, the country's largest theater chain, nationwide attendance from July 29 to Aug. 9 reached roughly 9.55 million admissions, the strongest summer showing since 2019 and a 45.6 percent increase from the same stretch last year. CGV's own theaters saw visitor numbers climb even faster, up 58.1 percent year-on-year.

Industry watchers say the rebound has less to do with a broad return to moviegoing habits and more to do with audiences chasing a specific kind of experience. Figures from the Korean Film Council show that Hollywood blockbusters "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" together accounted for more than 80 percent of total box office revenue during the peak holiday stretch, while CJ CGV reported that its premium-format screens, including IMAX and other large-format auditoriums, ran at 70 to 80 percent occupancy.

That appetite for spectacle is also changing viewing habits. CGV data indicates that 11.3 percent of moviegoers in the period saw a film more than once, and of those repeat viewers, 56.8 percent watched both "Spider-Man" and "The Odyssey." Nearly half of repeat visits involved a special-format screen, and 15.7 percent of fans who returned for a second viewing of "Spider-Man" chose a different format specifically to compare the visual experience.

The rush for premium seats has come with a downside. Because "The Odyssey" was filmed entirely with IMAX cameras, demand for the best seats at IMAX-equipped theaters has spiked, fueling a scalping problem. On resale platforms, prime seats at CGV's Yongsan location have reportedly changed hands for more than 100,000 won (about $71), roughly five times the standard ticket price of between 17,000 and 21,000 won.

The concentration of moviegoers around a handful of big-budget imports is also squeezing local productions. Mid-budget Korean films such as "Okay! Madam: Bon Voyage" and its follow-up "OK Madam 2" have struggled to secure prime screening slots this summer, prompting concern among domestic distributors that audiences are increasingly drawn only to spectacle-driven titles, leaving less room for homegrown stories.

In response, several distributors are holding back their biggest domestic releases for the fall, betting on the late-September Chuseok holiday to draw crowds instead. Titles reportedly being held for that window include the historical drama "The Assassin(s)," the sequel "Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub," the comedy remake "The Intern" and the action film "Reawaken Man: The Red."

For now, industry figures say the summer's box office strength shows Korean audiences are still willing to pay for cinema, but only when the experience justifies the price -- a shift that is reshaping how theaters program their screens and how studios plan their release calendars.