The number of moviegoers who visited theaters in the first half of this year fell more than 30% from a year earlier. In this situation, Lotte Cinema pulled out a "comeback card." It unveiled a special screening for people who are curious about horror movies but too scared to watch them, the so-called "Scaredy-Cat Auditorium" (hereafter Scaredy-Cat Hall). The industry sees this as theaters devising their own trick in an era dominated by online video services (OTT) such as Netflix and Disney+.
According to the industry on the 29th, Lotte Cinema will hold a special screening for people who cannot watch horror movies at its Sillim branch in Seoul on the 31st, Halloween. The feature is that the horror movies will play with the auditorium lights on to reduce fear. Earplugs will also be provided to moviegoers to avoid hearing sound effects that heighten fear.
A representative of Lotte Cultureworks, which operates Lotte Cinema, said it was "a plan to broaden the customer base for the Halloween season," adding, "The aim is to let not only horror-movie enthusiasts but also viewers who feel burdened by dark theaters enjoy themselves." The person added, "If the audience response is good, we could expand into screenings with other concepts."
At the 188-seat Scaredy-Cat Hall, two horror films are scheduled: ▲ Weapon (10:10 p.m.) ▲ The Black Phone 2 (5:35 p.m.). As of 3 p.m. that day, more than half the seats for Weapon had been booked. Office worker Kang Su-ji, 34, said, "There are many horror-movie enthusiasts around me. I usually can't watch because I'm scared, but I booked because I thought we could all watch together if the lights are on in the auditorium."
In the industry, Lotte Cinema's Scaredy-Cat Hall is seen as a "survival strategy experiment" launched by theaters, which have been squeezed by fewer moviegoers and the spread of OTT. There is a sense of crisis that if they cannot give audiences a reason to come to theaters, the industry itself could be shaken.
According to the "2025 first-half Korea film industry settlement of account" released by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), first-half box office revenue was 407.9 billion won and attendance was 42.5 million, down 33.2% and 32.5%, respectively, from a year earlier. Accordingly, among the three major multiplexes, CJ CGV's first-half operating loss for its domestic theater business was 48.3 billion won, larger than the 11 billion won loss a year earlier. As of the second quarter this year, Lotte Cultureworks swung to an operating loss of 6.2 billion won, and Megabox also turned to a loss with an operating loss of 8.5 billion won in the same period.
At least in the second half, as genre films such as "My Daughter is a Zombie" (5.63 million), "F1 The Movie" (5.15 million), and "Demon Slayer" (5 million) did well, August attendance rose 14% on-year to 13.45 million. Some say this brightens the outlook for third-quarter revenue and attendance, but the industry's assessment is that it was driven by fandom, and the recovery of general audiences remains slow.
In an era when OTT has become the center of content consumption, "theme screenings" that put the audience experience front and center, like the Scaredy-Cat Hall, are taking hold as a new trend. CJ CGV will open a "sing-along special auditorium" from the 31st to Nov. 2 for the Netflix animated hit "K-Pop Demon Hunters," where viewers can sing along.
Megabox, following a fan-merch screening for the Japanese animation "Jujutsu Kaisen 0: Kaigyoku/Gyokusetsu," held a two-day light-stick reaction screening on the 25th and 26th. By using light sticks that automatically change color according to the film's story, it offered audiences a memorable experience. Last month, it also presented a monthlong sing-along screening of a concert film featuring the global K-pop idol group BTS.
An industry official said, "The 'Scaredy-Cat Hall' event is drawing buzz to the point that it's being mentioned across various communities. But it looks like it could be easily forgotten as a simple experience," adding, "From branch-by-branch audience reactions to revisit rates and changes in average spend per person, data should be accumulated and connected to a new strategy for the next season."
Seo Yong-gu, a professor in the business administration department at Sookmyung Women's University, said, "In a situation where the film industry has not recovered to 2019 levels after the COVID-19 pandemic, experimental attempts targeting niche markets are a positive signal," adding, "Only differentiated experiences in offline spaces that OTT cannot provide will increase the number of moviegoers visiting theaters."