Korean Cinema’s Revival: From First Exhibition to Unique Collaborations

‘Humint‘ holds a special exhibition with DDP… A unique encounter between Showbox and Shortbox
“The appearance method and content direction vary depending on the characteristics of each work.”

Last year, not a single 10 million movie was released, and as the decline in audiences continued, the theater industry felt a deeper downturn than ever before. Among these, the Lunar New Year, which comes a month after the Year of the Red Horse in 2026, is attracting attention as a time to raise expectations for a recovery in the situation. Accordingly, we organized the works that are released around the holidays and their respective promotional strategies, and looked at the current temperature in theaters through the voices of officials and audiences.

[더팩트｜박지윤 기자] It is no longer possible to attract the audience’s interest with only a spectacular casting lineup or posters and trailers. Accordingly, the film industry is constantly deploying new promotional strategies in line with the rapidly changing platform environment and consumption patterns that seek to experience beyond viewing.

First, ‘Humint’ held a special exhibition at the DDP Igansumun Exhibition Hall from January 12th to 25th from 11 am to 6:30 pm. This is a meeting between DDP, Korea’s representative cultural space, and Korean movies, which has never been attempted before. It received great interest from prospective audiences by expanding the cinematic experience that can be felt on the screen to offline spaces in advance.

‘Humint’, which will be released on the 11th, is a spy action film depicting the story of people with different purposes clashing in Vladivostok, where secrets and truth are buried in the cold icy sea. It is director Ryu Seung-wan’s overseas location trilogy following ‘Berlin’ (2013) and ‘Mogadishu’ (2021).

Accordingly, the special exhibition captured the cold and hot Latvia location scene and the unaffected appearance of the actors outside the camera. 70 photos taken by artist Jin-young Kim, who was in charge of on-site still photography, and Jung-min Park, who played the role of Park Gun, along with an unreleased making video and a video of actors who visited the exhibition were displayed.

In ‘Humint’s special exhibition, there were photos showing the cold and hot Latvia location scenes and the actors’ unaffected appearances outside the camera. 70 photos taken by artist Jin-young Kim, who was in charge of on-site still photography, and Jung-min Park, who played the role of Park Gun, along with an unreleased making video and a video of actors who visited the exhibition were displayed. /NEW

It was confirmed that 2,500 people made advance reservations through Naver, and that more people actually enjoyed the special exhibition during the exhibition period.

Ms. A, a woman in her 20s, said to , “I am a fan of Park Jung-min, so I made a reservation in advance and visited the special exhibition. Admission was free, so I was able to enjoy it without burden.” She added, “It was new because it consisted of photos full of a sense of reality that allowed you to naturally feel the tone and atmosphere of the work in advance, rather than listing descriptions of the movie or characters. I want to see the movie sooner.”

An official from NEW, the distribution company that planned this, recalled the starting point, saying, “‘Humint’ is a movie that contains unique scenery and action scenes. While we were thinking about how to use the photos taken on location, we came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to create an opportunity to show the visual aspect before release.”

He continued, “DDP is a foundation operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, so it does not tend to rent space for commercial content, but a consensus was formed that by using photos taken at the site, we could provide citizens with a variety of cultural exhibition experiences, so it was concluded.”

Goods provided differently for each parking lot, including photos and videos that can be seen in advance on site, kept the audience coming. It also remained a unique content that allowed the actors to vividly reminisce about the time of filming and reflect on the meaning of the work in a unique way.

An official said, “As DDP is an area with a large mobile population, it helped not only fans but also the general public who are not familiar with movies to become aware of movies through the exhibition. It has become a base camp that connects online and offline.”

Meanwhile, distributor Showbox attracted attention by introducing a unique collaboration with the popular YouTube channel Shortbox. The released video contains a scene that cleverly mentions this year’s Showbox releases such as ‘Colony’, ‘Salmogji’, and ‘Snowfall’, and the main characters of ‘The Man Who Lives with the King’, Yoo Hae-jin and Park Ji-hoon, appeared in person and left a strong impression.

A Showbox official mentioned the direction, saying, “We tried to break away from the typical lineup video format and try a new project. In line with our direction of putting fun as the top priority, we thought about content that would be more enjoyable and approachable.”

At the same time, he said, “Remembering the collaboration with Shortbox, which has a similar brand name and is highly popular with the public, we included works scheduled for release this year, including ‘If We’ and ‘The Man Who Lives with the King’, which are currently being screened. After the release, we were satisfied with the enthusiastic response to the integrated Showbox and Shortbox worldviews.”

Regarding the direction of the work’s promotion, a film industry official said, “No matter how popular it is, if it doesn’t match the results of the work, we won’t proceed.” /The Fact DB

The unique promotion of ‘Number One’, which has become a part of the Lunar New Year holiday along with ‘Humint’ and ‘The Man Who Lives with the King’, is also attracting attention. The work depicts the story of Ha-min (Choi Woo-sik), who began seeing his number decrease by one every time he ate his mother’s food, and learns that his mother will die when that number reaches 0.

In this way, ‘Number One’, which deals with a mother’s home-cooked meal, distributed rice during the preview, and the main characters appeared on KBS’ ‘6 o’clock Hometown’ and presented the core emotion of the movie, mother’s food, in a cheerful and warm way in accordance with the texture of the program, clearly imprinting the work on viewers.

As word of mouth has become an important factor in box office success, publicity has long been an obvious means. Actors are fulfilling their responsibilities as leading actors by giving stage greetings and appearing on various YouTube channels and TV programs.

Furthermore, they are constantly making efforts to increase their competitiveness with unique content that highlights the characteristics of their work. Those involved explained the current atmosphere in which concepts are divided according to the nature of the movie and priority is given to channels that can maximize the strengths of the work and actors.

An official in the film industry said, “We vary the appearance method and content direction according to the characteristics of each work, such as whether it has strengths in unraveling the inner story of the movie, suits the conceptual format, or emphasizes chemistry between actors.” He added, “Afterwards, we coordinate the needs between the actors and YouTube media, and if the mutual directions match, we make a final decision on appearance and collaboration.”

Another official also emphasized that the color of the promotion and the characteristics of the movie should match well. In particular, he added, “Ultimately, it seems that the connection between the event and the movie before its release is needed for the audience to become immersed in it. No matter how popular it is, if it doesn’t match the results of the work, it won’t proceed. Of course, many people appear because it is competitive to watch, but these cases are very few.”

jiyoon-1031@tf.co.kr
[연예부 | ssent@tf.co.kr]

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