Medium-Budget Korean Films 'Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng' and 'Final Interview' Aim to Revive Slow Season Box Office

Attention is focusing on the performance of mid-budget Korean films that have thrown their hats into the ring during the slow box office season.

The films in question are Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng and Final Interview. Rather than positioning themselves as blockbuster scales or featuring top stars, both movies are placing their bets on fresh subject matter and the ensemble chemistry of their cast members.

Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng is a mission comedy about Maeng Bo-ram, a high school Korean language teacher from a small provincial city who accidentally joins the CSAT Examination Headquarters—sealed off as a Grade 2 national secret in South Korea for 40 days—in her struggle to create "flawless questions" free of typos and controversies. Lee Sunbin, You Chea Myung, Kim Young-min, and Jun Suk-ho star in the film.

As the first movie themed around the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and a comedic portrayal of the test question creation process, the premise alone draws interest. Given that the exam has served as a gateway to university admissions since its introduction in 1994, the key will be whether lighthearted fun and warm emotional touches can capture student audiences during the CSAT season.

Final Interview follows six applicants gathered in a final interview room who discover mysterious envelopes containing exposures about each other, plunging them into mutual suspicion and chaos. The original work is the Japanese novel Six Liars in a College Student by Akinari Asakura. Although it was once made into a film in Japan, the movie places its competitive edge on an adaptation infused with Korean sensibilities.

As a mystery-genre film, structural solidity and tension-inducing direction are expected to be core elements. In addition, the cast comprising Cho Yi-hyun, Kim Jaewon, Shin Seungho, Kang Youseok, Kwak Dong-yeon, and Bae Gang-Hee is drawing attention. The fresh charm and passionate energy exuded by these rising stars, classified as newcomers in the film industry, are expected to serve as major driving forces for the movie.

Both films have entered the reservation rate rankings ahead of their release. Final Interview ranked second with 11.2%, following the current box office leader The Secret of Mermaid Island: Chiikawa the Movie, while Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng placed fourth with 9.1%.

Movies currently occupying the upper tier of the box office, such as The Secret of Mermaid Island: Chiikawa the Movie, The Assassin(s), and Tazza: Belzebub's Song, have all entered a downward trend after surpassing a month since their release. Along with this, the theater district has seasonally entered a slow period, with weekday daily audience numbers falling below 100,000.

Attention is focused on whether Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng and Final Interview can unleash a "new release effect" to shake up the box office and inject vitality into theaters.

Ugly Duckling Ms. Maeng is scheduled to open on October 28, and Final Interview is scheduled for release on November 4.



(Photo: Yonhap News) (SBS Entertainment News, reporter Kim Ji-hye)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.