Despite lingering criticism that a return to cinemas is premature while COVID-19 continues to spread, government-issued discount coupons for movie tickets seem to have done their part in luring South Koreans back.

Last week, the state-funded Korean Film Council distributed discount coupons for tickets to films screened Thursday through Sunday. Over those four days, 485,000 people went to the movies.

According to data from the Korean Film Council, over 84,000 people went to the cinemas each day on Thursday and Friday. The number of moviegoers per day averaged 28,000 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. It was the first time the number of moviegoers exceeded 80,000 on a regular weekday since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March.

The figures peaked Saturday, Memorial Day, when cinemas saw more than 160,000 moviegoers. On Sunday, 151,000 people went to cinemas.

The discount vouchers were issued in time for long-delayed film releases.

Mystery-thriller “Invader,” featuring Song Ji-hyo and Kim Mu-yeol, has been at the top of the box office rankings since it opened Thursday. The film garnered 49,566 viewers on the first day and 288,819 over the four-day period. Art house film “A French Woman,” which also opened Thursday, had attracted 8,500 viewers as of Sunday.

Meanwhile, cinemagoers can get 6,000 won off each movie ticket with the discount coupons, which are given out weekly on a first come, first served basis. The coupons are distributed through the websites of local theater operators and may not be available from all theaters.

While KOFIC originally planned to distribute 1.33 million coupons over a three-week period -- 40 percent in the first week and 30 percent each in the following two weeks -- this may be extended if any coupons are left, according to a KOFIC official.


By Choi Ji-won(jwc@heraldcorp.com)