Box office revenue up, attendance down

Buoyed by the rise in ticket costs and the higher priced admissions for 3-D IMAX films, the total box office revenue tallied thus far at the half-way mark of this year has seen a significant increase compared to 2009 despite a drop in the total number of tickets sold.

The local movie industry saw a 14.6 percent spike in its total box office take over the same period last year, according to a recent report released by the Korean Film Council.

However, the number of admissions at multiplexes was down 3.9 percent.

From January to June, a total of 69.44 million tickets were sold -- about 2.8 million less than during the same period last year while current revenues are up with a record haul of 547 billion won ($454 million) compared to 476 billion won in the same period last year.

The reason for this anomaly is due mainly to the increase in standard ticket prices from 6,600 won to 7,880 won, the KOFIC says.

However, largely helping boost the box office earnings was the runaway success of James Cameron’s 3-D extravaganza “Avatar,” which drove the nation’s film revenue to a record high.