Director Hur Jin-ho, who helmed the film "The Assassin(s)," has voiced difficulties in promoting his movie due to unknown reasons.

Appearing on the YouTube show "Maebul Show" on the afternoon of the 28th, Director Hur was asked by Choi Wook, "The situation is serious. Isn't the film struggling to secure screenings because it has been brought to its knees by random attacks lacking any rationality?" He responded, "Rather than saying it's not securing screenings... it is still being screened."

He also claimed, "While normal films usually run ticket promotions to help people watch the movie around their 4th or 5th week of release, 'The Assassin(s)' is unable to do so in theaters. (When asked if he is facing external pressure) I cannot say for sure if it's external pressure, but to run such promotions, the (movie poster) needs to be featured on theater website ad boards. It seems they feel burdened when 'The Assassin(s)' appears... which is unprecedented for a Korean film. While 'Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub' is currently running its 7th round of ticket promotions, 'The Assassin(s)' stopped at the 2nd round and hasn't received any since."

"The Assassin(s)" was released on September 23 during the Chuseok holiday. However, starting from its opening weekend, it suffered a major blow to its box office performance after getting embroiled in a controversy over historical distortion spearheaded by political circles. As Director Hur stated, ticket promotions for "The Assassin(s)" only went up to the 2nd round. In contrast, "Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub," which opened on the same day, held up to 7 rounds of ticket promotions (totaling 80,000 tickets) despite lagging far behind "The Assassin(s)" in both audience numbers and advance reservation rates.

The exact reason why "The Assassin(s)" stopped at two rounds of ticket promotions remains unclear. An official from a multiplex chain stated, "Ticket promotions are conducted through discussions between theaters and distributors. They don't happen just because a distributor requests them; theaters assess demand to proceed. In the case of 'The Assassin(s),' it is a work entering its 6th week of release. New movies are released every week. Ticket promotions are decided by the programming and marketing teams based on the circumstances of the released film."

Despite failing to receive the benefits of ticket promotions, "The Assassin(s)," which opened on September 23, drew 3.4 million moviegoers, the highest among the four Korean films released around the same time. It ranked first in box office sales among Chuseok films and drew the fourth-largest audience among all Korean films released this year.



(SBS Entertainment News | Reporter Kim Ji-hye)