Around 6,000 people have watched ¡°Wild Hogs¡± in Korea, some 60,000 checked out ¡°Chuck and Larry¡±, but a staggering 1.35 million have seen ¡°August Rush.¡± This may puzzle some in the U.S., where ¡°August Rush¡± ranked a modest 77th in terms of box office takings and made US$28.48 million as of December 20. ¡°Wild Hogs¡± by contrast raked in $168.27 million to become no. 10 at the U.S. box office but closed within a week of opening in Korea. What is it that reverses the films¡¯ fortunes here?
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A scene from Irish independent musical film ¡®Once¡¯ (2006).
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Aside from major blockbusters that hit Korea this year such as ¡°Transformers¡± and ¡°Spider Man 3¡±, ¡°August Rush¡± starring Freddie Highmore as a musical prodigy and ¡°Music and Lyrics¡± featuring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore were the most watched Hollywood films, both attracting around 1 million moviegoers. This is not what happened in the U.S. According to the Internet box office database www.boxofficemojo.com, ¡°Music and Lyrics¡± was in 42nd place and ¡°August Rush¡± in 77th. The Irish independent musical film ¡°Once¡± was also an unexpected sell-out in Korea, accounting for 1/10 of the movie¡¯s worldwide revenue of $14.64 million and drawing some 200,000 viewers.
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A scene from ¡®Wild Hogs¡¯ (2007).
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So what makes a movie a hit or a failure in Korea? Experts point to familiar storylines and music. ¡°Dramas that succeed in Korea are usually those with Cinderella-type stories in which characters prevail against heavy odds,¡± said Prof. Sim Eun-jin of Chungju University¡¯s film studies department. ¡°The general public tends to be drawn to romantic love stories with clear changes in emotion.¡± Some think that Korean viewers are trying to find something in foreign films that they can¡¯t in Korean ones. ¡°Japanese literature and foreign independent films like ¡®Once¡¯ are attracting people in their early to mid-20s, especially women in Korea,¡± said Hong Seong-nam, a movie critic. ¡°Not many domestic films feature the fun and inspiration of everyday lives, and this seems to prompt Korean viewers to turn to overseas.¡±
American comedies, on the other hand, are almost always a disaster here. For instance, ¡°Superbad¡±, one of the top hits among low-budget movies this year in the U.S., is likely never to make its way to Korea. ¡°Besides dramas with happy endings and action-packed blockbusters, it is incredibly hard especially for American comedies to succeed in Korea,¡± says a marketer from Sony Pictures Korea.
Language is another stumbling block. The humor and parody are often lost in the translation. ¡°Austin Powers¡± is a perfect case in point. ¡°Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me¡±, the second in the series, was a huge hit in the U.S., becoming no. 4 in the box office rankings, but most viewers in Korea were baffled. Some joked the movie must owe its 120, 000 audience figures here to the U.S. Forces Korea.
¡°Wedding Crasher¡±, no. 6 at the U.S. box office in 2005, closed within 10 days of opening in Korea, with many saying they don¡¯t understand why anyone would just crash someone¡¯s wedding for no reason. Steve Carrell¡¯s mega hit ¡°The 40 Year Old Virgin¡± drew a paltry 50,000 people in Korea. ¡°For a romantic comedy to succeed in Korea, it must first attract women viewers, and excessively sexual comedies don¡¯t really have an appeal for them,¡± says Hong.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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