Allegations of a massive, multiyear pattern of box office fraud rocked the Korean film industry last week. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s anti-corruption office said 69 executives from the country’s largest theater chains — Cgv, Lotte Cinema and Megabox — and 24 distributors, including Showbox, were referred to prosecutors on Thursday. The police said the theaters colluded with distributors to exaggerate ticket sales for at least 323 films over the past five years, delivering false information to the Korean Film Council, the government-run body responsible for collecting local box office data.
But some Korean film business insiders say the practices the police uncovered were an “open secret” in the industry for years, and oftentimes not nearly as nefarious as they might appear.
Much of the resentment that’s currently building in the Korean film industry, meanwhile, is being directed at the major multiplex companies, which are owned by Korea’s largest conglomerates and have unrivaled market power.
But some Korean film business insiders say the practices the police uncovered were an “open secret” in the industry for years, and oftentimes not nearly as nefarious as they might appear.
Much of the resentment that’s currently building in the Korean film industry, meanwhile, is being directed at the major multiplex companies, which are owned by Korea’s largest conglomerates and have unrivaled market power.
- 8/21/2023
- by Soomee Park and Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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