SEOUL -- South Korean filmmakers are campaigning for a rise in ticket prices to help solve the industry's struggles with profitability.

"In the five years from 2002 to 2006, the consumer price index has risen by 11.4%, but over the same period average movie ticket prices have increased by only 3.9%," said Lee Chun-yeon, head of the Korean Association of Film Art & Industry, on Monday.

"There has been no significant rise in ticket prices in the past seven years, so we are pushing for prices at the 10,000 won ($10.80) level."

Prices charged for movie tickets in Seoul are broadly uniform, with top levels ranging from $7.60 to $8.70 (7000-8000 won).  Regional theaters outside of the capital tend to charge less.

Historically, rises in the ticket price have taken place by consensus.  The last such rise took place in December 2000, when top prices rose from 6,000 to 7,000 won.  At that time, five years had  passed since the last increase.

The issue has taken on added urgency for Korean filmmakers, as the industry struggles with a steep drop in profits due to the stagnation of ancillary markets and a rise in average budgets during the boom years of 2005-2006.

Currently, the average Korean film earns 70-80% of its revenues via its theatrical release.  By some calculations, the average Korean film needs to sell 2 million tickets to break even, yet only nine of the 90+ films released to December 1 have reached that level.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bookmark with..

Comments (0)

Write comment

This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment.

There is a problem with the comment system, or you do not have javascript enabled.