South Korea’s box office showed signs of recovery in the first half of 2026 as theatrical revenue climbed 41.9% year-on-year, recovering to 94.2% of pre-pandemic levels.
Local titles such as The King’s Warden and Colony alongside imports Project Hail Mary and Avatar: Fire And Ash help generate revenue of $398.7m (KRW579bn) from 57.05 million admissions in H1.
This was a steep increase on the $117.8bn (KRW171.1bn) recorded from 14.55 million admissions in H1 2025, according to a report from the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
The recovery was driven by Korean films, previously highlighted by Kofic earlier this month. Local film revenue generated $242m (KRW370.2bn) from 37.37 million admissions – up 81.7% from $114.6m (KRW166.5bn) and 74.9% on 16.01 million admissions year-on-year.
It marks the highest first-half revenue for Korean films since the pandemic.
Overseas films earned $143.7bn (KRW 208.8bn) from 19.68 million admissions. While admissions fell 6.9% (1.46 million) year-on-year, revenue rose slightly by 2.3% from $3.1bn (KRW4.6bn).
This was driven by titles with a high proportion of premium-format screenings such as Project Hail Mary and Avatar: Fire And Ash. Premium-format screenings accounted for 30.2% of total revenue for Project Hail Mary and 49.9% for Avatar: Fire And Ash.
Period drama The King’s Warden topped the H1 box office overall, earning a staggering $112.3m (KRW163.1bn) from 16.91 million admissions, making it the highest-grossing Korean film in box office history.
Zombie horror Colony ranked second with $41.6m from 5.74 million admissions while follow local horror Salmokji: Whispering Water came third with $22.9m (KRW33.3bn) from 3.24 million admissions.
Total revenue from premium-format screenings reached $31.5m (KRW45.7bn) in H1, up 56.3% year-on-year.
Premium formats accounted for 7.9% of total H1 revenue, continuing a steady upward trend since the pandemic as theatres increasingly use such formats to differentiate their offerings. Driven by this growth in premium-format revenue alongside a broader rise in ticket prices, the average ticket price for H1 rose by $0.38 (KRW551) year-on-year to $7 (KRW 10,150).
Among distributors, Showbox Corp. led with a 48.6% revenue share ($193.8m / KRW281.4bn), having distributed four films — The King’s Warden, Colony, Salmokji: Whispering Water and Once We Were Us — all of which performed well.
The Walt Disney Company Korea followed in second place with a 13.8% revenue share ($29.7m / KRW43.1bn), having distributed nine titles including Avatar: Fire And Ash, Toy Story 5 and The Devil Wears Prada.
Low-budget US horror Backrooms topped the H1 independent/arthouse box office with $8.5m (KRW12.4bn) in revenue and 1.16 million admissions. South Korean documentary Ran 12.3 and local drama My Name followed in second and third place respectively.
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