Local theater chains roll out plans to re-release fan favorites this spring

The coronavirus outbreak has led to a surge in re-releases at the local box office the first quarter of the year.

According to data from Korean Film Council on Thursday, 130 films were re-released over the past three months. The number nearly doubled compared to last year’s first quarter, which was 67.

As films either canceled or delayed their premieres, theaters are coming up with new ways to bring old films back to the big screens.

According to the Korean Film Marketers Association, 75 films have pushed back their releases so far this year. Twenty-seven are local films, and 48 are foreign films.

Multiplex chains are to continue re-releasing films in an effort to attract audiences. CGV has announce that it is going to start screening movie favorites such as “Beat” (1997), “Ditto” (2000), “One Fine Spring Day” (2001), “The Unjust” (2010), “Spider-Man: Far From Home” (2019) and “Aquaman” (2018).

Lotte Cinema handpicked classic films by genre and will screen “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (2001), “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (2018), “Minions” (2015) and “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (2018). The theater chain will also screen independent films “House of Hummingbird” and “Maggie” from last year.

Megabox has selected 12 beloved animated films that will start screening on April 9, including “Natsume Yujin-cho the Movie: Ephemeral Bond” (2018), “Is the Order a Rabbit?: Dear My Sister” (2018), “Rascal Does Not Dream Of Dreaming Girl” (2019) and more.

By Lee Jae-lim