Korea's film industry, which has regained momentum thanks to box-office hits such as "The Man Who Lives With the King," "Swarm" and "Salmokji," is now seeking new survival strategies amid uncertainty in the investment environment. A "hybrid strategy" is emerging, with theater operators expanding into investment and distribution, while production companies extend their reach into imports, distribution and even artist management.
According to the industry on the 14th, CJ CGV, Korea's No. 1 theater operator, launched CGV Pictures late last year for its film investment and distribution business. Its first main investment and distribution film, "Okay Madam 2," will open in August, and "Sonneun Nal" is being prepared as the next project. Ahead of this, CJ CGV has distributed "I Am a Prince Alone," "God's Band," "Sister" and "My Name Is" since last year. In particular, "God's Band" drew a cumulative 1.45 million viewers, delivering results more than double its break-even point.
Behind CJ CGV's move into investment and distribution lies a shrinking film market. "Through CGV Pictures, we will address the theater content shortage caused by the recent contraction in Korean film investment, and expand the diversity of theater content through investment and distribution of various films," a company official said. "The Korean film market is currently very short of 'mid-budget films,' and CGV is stepping into investment to fill this gap."
Hive Media Corp, which has produced a string of hits including "12.12: The Day," "The Man Standing Next" and "Inside Men," is also diversifying its business portfolio into investment, distribution and imports. It made a full-fledged entry into investment and distribution starting with "Boss," released during last year's Chuseok holiday. Recently, it distributed the Hollywood talked-about film "Marty Supreme," expanding its distribution scope into foreign content. This year, it directly handled the investment, production and distribution of "The Assassin(s)," a Chuseok release starring Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho. "Considering the current investment and distribution environment, we plan to directly pursue projects for which we can independently secure funding going forward," Hive Media Corp said.
By4M Studio, which had produced diverse content including albums, dramas and films, is also aggressively pursuing a "hybrid strategy." By4M drew attention in 2024 by boldly distributing "Firefighters," whose release had been indefinitely postponed due to a drunk-driving incident involving one of its cast members. "Firefighters" not only dispelled such concerns but also succeeded at the box office, recording 3.85 million viewers, far exceeding its break-even point of 2.5 million.
Since then, it has continued to deliver results by distributing "Match," "Noise," "If This Love Disappears From the World Tonight" and "Pupil." Notably, it is expected to release "Catch! Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Jewel," the sequel to "Catch! Teenieping" (1.24 million viewers), which was released in 2024 and ranked second all-time among Korean animations, next month. Going a step further, it expanded into the management business by acquiring AM Entertainment, home to actors including Kim Woo-bin and Shin Min-a, late last year. The move is seen as a strategy to maximize synergy by linking content production, distribution and artist management.
Amid this trend, the rehabilitation proceedings of Central Group affiliates such as Megabox and Plus M Entertainment are becoming a wild card for the film market. "The film market has been showing signs of recovery this year, but the investment environment remains conservative," an industry official said. "In particular, as the investment gap for mid-budget films grows, there is a stronger trend of theater operators and production companies directly securing investment and distribution capabilities."
