Song Joong-ki Sheds Tears For Failing Movie While Song Hye-kyo’s “Dark Nuns” Records Box Office No.1

Song Joong-ki, who released “Bogota: City of the Last Chance” at the end of last year, and Song Hye-kyo, who unveiled “Dark Nuns” at the start of this year, are drawing attention for their starkly contrasting box office performances.

“Bogota: City of the Last Chance,” directed by Kim Seong-je and starring Song Joong-ki, was released on December 31, 2024. During a GV event held on January 12, Song Joong-ki addressed the film’s underwhelming performance, saying, “I am grateful that the movie is even being shown in theaters,” but added, “I worked harder than ever to promote it. I wanted to share it and present it beautifully,” his voice breaking with emotion.

The production of Bogota began in 2019 and required on-location filming in Bogota, Colombia. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused indefinite delays. After many setbacks, the film was finally released five years later, on December 31, 2024.

Despite its long-awaited debut, the film was criticized for its lackluster narrative and only attracted 420,000 viewers. With a production budget of 12.5 billion won, the movie’s break-even point is estimated at 3 million viewers.

Meanwhile, according to the Korean Film Council’s integrated ticketing system, “Dark Nuns”, which premieres on January 24, has surpassed a ticket reservation rate of 41.1%, with 206,853 pre-sold tickets.

This figure significantly exceeded the 17.9% reservation rate of “Hitman 2”, which is currently holding the No.1 spot at the box office, showcasing the explosive interest in “Dark Nuns”.

“Dark Nuns” has maintained its position as the No.1 reserved film for nine consecutive days prior to its release, topping ticket reservation charts across the three major theater chains: CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox.

With the long Lunar New Year holiday, Dark Nuns is expected to sustain its strong momentum. The film’s break-even point is reportedly 1.6 million viewers, and it is anticipated to surpass 1 million during the holiday period alone.

At the same time, a harsh review of “Dark Nuns” gained attention across various SNS platforms. On January 21, a topic titled “Dark Nuns’ Review (Spoiler)” was published on the Korean forum “theqoo”, drawing attention with over 45,000 views. The topic in question attached a review of Song Hye-kyo’s latest movie “Dark Nuns” on SNS platform X (formerly Twitter), which was published by a person that attended the film’s early screening.

To be specific, according to this person, “Dark Nuns” constantly used misogynistic terms such as “rotten uterus,” “prostitute,” and “stuff that comes out of a female body”, which made them feel discomfort. 

Additionally, during the Q&A segment, the director admitted that it was his fault that the plot was “lacking” when a viewer inquired about the movie’s plot. 

Upon seeing the aforementioned topic, many netizens expressed disappointment and anger, with some even canceling their ticket reservation. However, many insisted that the use of misogynistic terms may be a matter of context and that people need to watch the movie first before making hasty judgments. 

Below are some comments from netizens:

• When will Korean cinema come to its senses??
• Did they seriously make a misogynist movie with those actors?
• Guys, calm down. We need to know the full context where the misogynistic terms are used to truly judge the movie. I heard it’s an evil spirit saying those words
• I’m still going to go see it… I think I need to go see it for myself to judge it properly 
• I canceled my ticket reservation. 
• I was going to see it, but I guess I shouldn’t waste money.

Unlike the worries ahead of the movie premiere, “Dark Nuns” impressively topped the box office chart in the first week of its screening.

The movie attracted 160,000 moviegoers on the first day of its premiere and ranked No.1 on the box office chart for three consecutive days, recording over 606,156 viewers in the first week of its release.

In addition, “Dark Nuns” even recorded 310,000 people watching the movie in the first week after its premiere, recording the highest opening performance among Korean films released in this country and dominating the box office for three days in a row.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on the 27th, the popularity of “Dark Nuns” is expected to continue rising.