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Director Yeon Sang-ho (left) and actress Jun Ji-hyun at the press conference for Colony*, held on May 6 at CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. <JoongAng Ilbo>

Director Yeon Sang-ho's Paradise Lost recouped its entire net production budget of 500 million won through overseas pre-sales alone, before its domestic release. The director's other film, Colony, passed its break-even point of 3 million admissions just ten days after its May 21 release. Colony's net production budget was 17 billion won, meaning its break-even point based on theatrical revenue alone exceeded 5 million admissions.

In the Korean film industry, the break-even point is typically calculated as roughly three times the production budget in ticket admissions. This is because about half of theatrical revenue goes to theaters, with distribution fees deducted as well. According to the Korean Film Council's (KOFIC) "Korean Film Profitability Analysis," released late last year, theatrical revenue still accounted for more than 60% of total revenue.

Three Films Whose Break-Even Points Were Lowered by Pre-Sales — Colony, Hope, and No Other Choice

Colony's overseas sales began at the Cannes Film Market last year. Before its invitation to the Midnight Screenings section of the 79th Cannes International Film Festival, the film had already been pre-sold in 124 countries, and by the time of its screening had already reached about 70% of its projected sales target. Ahn Jung-won, Director of Showbox's International Business Team, said the film was sold to more than 150 countries and territories, centered on the overseas distributors that had previously handled Train to Busan and Peninsula.

Director Na Hong-jin's Hope was sold to more than 200 countries and regions in May, generating revenue in the mid-20-billion-won range — the highest overseas pre-sale figure ever for a Korean film. The break-even point, estimated by the industry at around 10 million admissions as of June, had fallen to between 6 million and 6.5 million admissions as of August. Cumulative domestic admissions stood at 4.29 million as of August 6.

Director Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice recouped its entire net production budget of 17 billion won through pre-sales to 205 countries alone, before its domestic release last September. Deals in North America and France, among other markets, opened at minimum guarantees roughly five times higher than those for Parasite. A minimum guarantee is a sum a content provider is paid upfront by a distributor as a contractually assured minimum return. Domestic admissions reached only 2.94 million.

Five Years of Expanding Windows Beyond the Theater

According to the same report, the share of overseas revenue in Korean commercial films rose from 8% in 2019 to 14% in 2024. Over the same period, the share of OTT revenue grew from 0.6% to 3.5%.

After theatrical release, video-on-demand (VOD) and OTT sales become another revenue window. HUMINT and Wild Thing underperformed at the box office but turned a profit after being sold to Netflix. Kim Mi-hyun, former head of KOFIC's research division, noted that judging the industry's success or failure by theatrical performance alone can distort perceptions of the market.

Hope will begin its overseas theatrical run with releases in Taiwan on September 4 and North America on September 9. The film has also been confirmed for the Midnight Madness section of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, which opens on September 10. Paradise Lost is reportedly set to continue sales at the Toronto International Film Festival's film market ahead of its domestic release in October. Attention is turning to how the two films will perform in overseas theaters.

Sources

• JoongAng Ilbo, "The Secret Behind Colony's 3 Million BEP: How Korean Film Budgeting Is Changing," 2026.06.25

• Money Today, "Hope Faces Break-Even Crisis, but the Answer Lies in Overseas Theaters [Cinema Report]," 2026.08.07

• Dong-A Ilbo, "Box Office Revenue Isn't Just About Theater Admissions," 2026.08.26