Korean comedy films face box office slump

Korean comedy films are struggling at the box office, with Okay! Madam 2 nearing the end of its run without reaching 500,000 moviegoers. The slump has also hit Heartman, Audition 109, and Wild Sing, raising questions about the genre’s theatrical viability. The article says audiences this year have favored story-driven films, horror, zombies, and big-screen spectacle instead of comedy. Observers say comedies now need more than simple laughs to justify a theater ticket.

Okay! Madam 2 is nearing the end of its theatrical run without drawing 500,000 moviegoers.

Heartman, Audition 109, and Wild Sing also underperformed at the box office.

In 2025, My Daughter Is a Zombie led the domestic box office with 5.64 million viewers.

The King’s Warden became the first film of 2026 to cross 10 million admissions and drew 16.91 million moviegoers.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey benefited from big-screen spectacle, while Salmokji: Whispering Water and Colony attracted audiences with horror and zombie thrills.

Published Sep 11, 2026 3:57 pm KST

Comedies once dominated summer, but changing viewer habits are rendering the genre obsolete in cinemas

Actors Uhm Jung-hwa, right, and Park Sung-woong in a scene from "Okay! Madam 2”/ Courtesy of CGV Pictures

Proving that comedy has failed to work its usual summer magic, the Korean film "Okay! Madam 2" is nearing the end of its theatrical run with disappointing box-office results. As most domestic comedy films released this year have struggled commercially, the slump is raising deeper questions about the genre's theatrical viability.

"Okay! Madam 2" is nearing its exit without drawing 500,000 moviegoers. Released six years after the original, it was the only Korean comedy slated for the summer box office, but the audience response was lukewarm.

While competition from major foreign releases like "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and "The Odyssey" may have hurt its performance, the film failed to regain momentum through reviews from verified ticket buyers and ultimately fell well short of expectations.

This failure extends beyond "Okay! Madam 2."

"Heartman," which opened earlier this year and reunited the team behind the "Hitman" franchise that succeeded even during the COVID-19 pandemic, also underperformed. "Audition 109," a spiritual successor to the 2009 cult film "Wish," featuring the returning character Jjanggu, drew sharply divided reactions and also flopped. "Wild Sing" — a comedy starring Gang Dong-won, Um Tae-goo, Park Ji-hyun and Oh Jung-se — struggled at the box office despite substantial buzz, and was later released on Netflix.

This marks a sharp reversal from recent years. Comedies have traditionally produced steady box-office hits by appealing to audiences across age groups. In 2025, a year that produced no films that surpassed 10 million ticket sales, the domestic box office was led by "My Daughter Is a Zombie." The film combined an unusual premise with humor to attract 5.64 million viewers. The summer box office, in particular, was often dominated by comedies that tapped into local tastes to draw a broad audience.

Actors Jo Jung-suk, right, and Choi Yu-ri in a scene from “My Daughter Is a Zombie” / Courtesy of NEW

Looking at this year's box-office hits, audiences have instead flocked to story-driven films and releases offering visual spectacle or immersive genre experiences. "The King's Warden" captivated 16.91 million moviegoers with its historical narrative to become the first film of 2026 to cross 10 million admissions, a benchmark for blockbuster success in Korea.

The horror film "Salmokji: Whispering Water" and the zombie thriller "Colony" delivered the visceral tension audiences increasingly seek in theaters, while the Hollywood titles "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" and "The Odyssey" thrived by offering big-screen spectacles.

A still from "Salmokji: Whispering Water" / Courtesy of Showbox

As theatergoing has concentrated heavily on experience, comedy has been placed at a relative disadvantage. The genre's historic appeal of offering light, stress-free viewing has cemented the perception that it belongs on streaming at home. As streaming has become part of everyday viewing, audiences are applying different standards to home viewing and theatrical releases.

Comedy has reached a point where it must deliver something beyond simple entertainment. To persuade audiences to buy a ticket, observers say the genre must offer elements that are amplified on the big screen, such as large-screen visual appeal, the communal experience of laughter, robust storytelling and compelling ensemble acting.

The challenge for Korean comedy films is no longer just generating bigger laughs, but discovering a payoff that audiences cannot easily replicate at home.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.

韩国喜剧电影票房惨淡，《OK！Madam 2》即将下映，观影人次仍未突破50万。《心之男》、《切肤之爱109》和《野性之歌》等影片也遭遇了同样的票房滑铁卢，引发了人们对喜剧电影未来发展前景的质疑。文章指出，今年观众更青睐剧情片、恐怖片、丧尸片和视觉奇观，而非喜剧。业内人士认为，如今的喜剧电影需要更多元素才能吸引观众走进影院。

好吧！《夫人2》即将结束院线放映，但观影人次仍未达到50万。

《心之男儿》、《试镜109》和《狂野歌唱》的票房表现也不尽如人意。

2025年，《我的女儿是僵尸》以564万观众的成绩领跑国内票房。

《国王的守护者》成为 2026 年第一部观影人次突破 1000 万的电影，吸引了 1691 万观众。

《蜘蛛侠：全新的一天》和《蜘蛛侠：奥德赛》受益于大银幕的壮观场面，而《萨尔莫基：低语之水》和《殖民地》则凭借恐怖和丧尸惊悚吸引了观众。

发布于2026年9月11日下午3:57（韩国标准时间）

喜剧片曾经主宰暑期档，但观众习惯的改变正使这一类型在电影院逐渐过时。

演员严正花（右）和朴成雄在《OK！Madam 2》中的剧照/图片由CGV Pictures提供

韩国电影《OK！Madam 2》票房惨淡，即将结束院线放映，再次证明喜剧片未能像往常一样在暑期档大放异彩。由于今年上映的大多数韩国喜剧片票房表现不佳，这种颓势引发了人们对喜剧片在院线市场生存前景的更深层次的质疑。

《OK！Madam 2》即将下映，但观影人次不足50万。这部影片在第一部上映六年之后推出，是暑期档唯一一部韩国喜剧，但观众反响平平。

虽然《蜘蛛侠：全新的一天》和《奥德赛》等外国大片的竞争可能影响了该片的票房，但该片未能通过购票观众的评价重获动力，最终远未达到预期。

这种失败不仅仅体现在《OK！夫人2》中。

今年早些时候上映的《心人》（Heartman）由打造了即使在新冠疫情期间也依然成功的《杀手：代号47》（Hitman）系列的原班人马再度联手，但票房表现同样不尽如人意。《切肤之爱109》（Audition 109）是2009年经典影片《愿望》（Wish）的精神续作，片中角色张九（Jjanggu）回归，但影片评价褒贬不一，最终票房也惨淡。《狂野之歌》（Wild Sing）——一部由姜栋元、严泰久、朴智贤和吴政世主演的喜剧——尽管口碑极佳，但票房表现依然不佳，之后转至Netflix上线。

这与近年来的情况截然相反。喜剧片历来凭借其老少咸宜的受众群体，能够持续创造票房佳绩。2025年，没有一部电影的票房超过1000万张，而当年国内票房冠军却是《我的女儿是僵尸》。这部电影将一个不同寻常的设定与幽默元素相结合，吸引了564万观众。尤其是在暑期档，喜剧片往往凭借其迎合本土观众口味的特质，吸引更广泛的观众群体，从而主导票房市场。

演员曹政奭（右）和崔宥利在电视剧《我的女儿是僵尸》中的剧照 / 图片由NEW提供

从今年的票房成绩来看，观众们似乎更青睐剧情驱动型电影以及提供视觉奇观或沉浸式类型体验的作品。《国王的守护者》凭借其历史叙事吸引了1691万观众，成为2026年首部观影人次突破1000万的电影，这在韩国被视为票房大片的里程碑。

恐怖电影《萨尔莫基：低语之水》和僵尸惊悚片《殖民地》为观众带来了他们在影院中日益追求的感官刺激，而好莱坞电影《蜘蛛侠：全新的一天》和《奥德赛》则凭借其大银幕上的奇观而大获成功。

《萨尔莫基：低语之水》剧照 / 由 Showbox 提供

由于剧院观影越来越注重体验，喜剧相对处于劣势。喜剧一直以来以轻松愉悦的观影方式吸引观众，这使得人们普遍认为喜剧更适合在家通过流媒体观看。然而，随着流媒体逐渐成为日常观影的一部分，观众对家庭观影和院线电影的评判标准也发生了变化。

喜剧已经发展到必须超越简单娱乐的地步。观察人士指出，为了吸引观众购票，喜剧必须具备一些在大银幕上能够放大的元素，例如大银幕的视觉冲击力、集体欢笑的体验、引人入胜的故事情节以及精彩的群戏表演。

韩国喜剧电影面临的挑战不再仅仅是制造更大的笑点，而是找到一种观众在家难以轻易复制的体验。

本文来自《韩国日报》（《韩国时报》的姊妹报），由人工智能生成系统翻译，并由《韩国时报》编辑。