* ‘Gobit-sawi’ is a native Korean word meaning ‘the largest crisis among all crises,’ in English ‘climax (Climax)’.
Poster for Disney animation ‘Zootopia 2’. Photo Walt Disney Company Korea
In the globally influential Encyclopaedia Britannica, the dictionary definition of ‘film’ is “a series of still photographs projected rapidly in succession onto a screen using light.” Generally, as a form of popular art, film, as this definition shows, has several sufficient elements.
They are the presence of a screen that can cast light, and the presence of an audience willing to pay to watch. Accordingly, its sub-classifications set the three elements of production‘shooting’ ‘direction’ ‘editing’and the three elements of technology‘film’ ‘screen’ ‘audience’as constitutive requirements. However, based on these foundations, films, and above all ‘Korean cinema’ made in the soil of the Republic of Korea, have reached a critical crossroads this year.
First, works called films have jumped out of theaters with screens and moved onto personal devices, and there have been fundamental changes in shooting and directing. In the era of generative AI, created performers move even without a viewfinder, and thus there is a looming crisis that the ‘actor’the agent who would analyze the script and consult with the directormay disappear.
Poster for the film ‘Zombie Daughter’. Photo Next Entertainment World
Above all, in Korean cinema, changes in platforms and production systems collided with long-accumulated structural ills and burst forth even more dramatically. This shows up in numbers such as the ‘disappearance of 10-million-admission films’ and the ‘disappearance of mid-budget films’, but scarier factors lie behind those. We may truly be about to live through a year, starting next year, in which Korean cinema has no ‘cinema’.
Unlike previous years, animation dominated the box office this year. Disney’s animation ‘Zootopia 2’ recorded 7.03 million admissions as of the 25th (same hereafter), making it the only 2025 release to surpass the 7-million mark. No. 2 ‘Theatrical Version Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’ had 5.68 million, and No. 5 ‘Theatrical Version Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc’ had 3.42 million, meaning three of the top five were animations. It is true there was a sense of tension at one point that Japanese animation might take the annual No. 1 at the box office. Even if that shifted to Disney animation, it does little to comfort Korean cinema.
Among Korean films, Director Pil Gam-sung’s ‘Zombie Daughter’ barely saved face by just topping 5 million. ‘Opposition Party’, starring Kang Ha-neul and Yoo Hae-jin, drew 3.37 million, and Director Park Chan-wook’s ‘It Cannot Be Helped’ reached 2.94 million to place within the top 10. Of course, masters like Director Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Mickey 17’ were not inactive, and Director Park Chan-wook unusually chased box-office success, but the public’s verdict was cold.
Director Park Chan-wook, who failed to surpass 3 million viewers this year with the film ‘It Cannot Be Helped’. Photo CJ ENM
With the growth of OTT platforms, changes in viewing patterns, and a shorter ‘holdback (the interval before a film moves to other platforms)’, audiences can now simply wait a bit and watch theatrical releases lying in bed without paying high ticket prices at a cinema. After COVID-19, production and investment contracted, biasing output toward proven genres like comedy or action, while challenge and experimentation vanished.
In the end, a perfect ‘vicious cycle’ took hold: with no audience there is no money; with no money there are no works; with no works the audience disappears. On top of that, fewer screens due to consolidations among theater operators, and a shift in the creative paradigm in which generative AI threatens the positions of staff in CG, cinematography, and editing are also menacing Korean cinema. Now that the ‘warehouse films’ cleared out since COVID-19 are running out next year, with investments in new projects few and far between, there is a real fear of crisis.
As audiences stop coming, the ‘screen’ disappears; as films are watched not on film anymore but on all sorts of electronic devices, the ‘film print’ disappears too. There is also concern that actors and camera crews may vanish under AI’s assault. Starting next year, Korean cinema may still release films, but works that can truly be called films in the traditional sense may be on the verge of disappearing.
A moviegoer chooses a film at a theater in Seoul. Photo Yonhap News
Should this simply be viewed as a transitional phenomenon in which one industry moves to another. Should we accept a scene where audiences leave theaters, and performance recordings or animation with solid ‘fandom’ fill the seats. All this means it is time for many who love film and grew up within the film world to think seriously.
Looking at teenagers’ content consumption patterns now, both OTT and TV are likewise ‘past their prime’ media. For them, even a 20-minute video feels long; they are people accustomed to just 15-second ‘short-form’ content. To draw themwho will become the backbone of film consumption 10~20 years from nowinto theaters, we must provide clear reasons worthy of the price of admission, whether fandom or a visual experience. The expectation that simply making things bigger and flashier and sending out invitations will fill seats has become naive.
After seeing this year’s situation, can we really expect Korean cinema to still be ‘cinema’ next year. There was a time when, aside from countries like India or Japan, Korea was one of the few nations whose domestic films could ride out Hollywood’s waves. As quickly as it advanced, it declined quickly too. Where will Korean cinema head in 2026.
