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[HanCinema's News] Possible Streaming Premiere for "Space Sweepers" Illustrates Ambiguity in South Korean Film Industry

Recent reports of "Space Sweepers" possibly having its premiere relegated to Netflix have vocalized serious doubts about the South Korean film industry's ability to return to a traditional box office first business model. While sources from Netflix and "Space Sweepers" have only confirmed that the sides are in talks, and insist no deal has yet been struck, the mere rumor alone has begged many questions about the state of the South Korean film industry going forward.

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"Space Sweepers" was still several months away from theatrical distribution at the time the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Consequently, few noticed that the movie's original planned release date during Korean Thanksgiving came and went without notice or publicity. But with a relatively poor showing by the generally well-liked "Pawn" during that same weekend, there's an increasing sense that the South Korean film industry may never go back to normal.

How much this will impact consumers, however, is unclear. A big part of why the possibility of a Netflix premiere for "Space Sweepers" is so surprising is that the movie had a big budget of around twenty million dollars and big expectations besides. Song Joong-ki leads an excellent cast in his first project since "Arthdal Chronicles" last year.

Appropriately enough "Arthdal Chronicles" is itself an example of why a more streaming-centric strategy may be practical for films. Despite weak ratings on local television, "Arthdal Chronicles" has been confirmed for a second season on the strength of its Netflix performance. "#ALIVE" is another science fiction film that was briefly the worldwide leader on Netflix, albeit of the zombie rather than the spaceship variety.

In any event a lot has changed since springtime, when the distributor of "Time to Hunt" tried and failed to delay the movie's Netflix release as COVID-19 made a planned domestic premiere impossible. Many suspect that a decrease in theater patrons has mainly just resulted in more people watching movies at home. But such exact data is, for the public as yet unavailable as new business deals are planned.

Written by William Schwartz

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