A poster of the film “Exit.” (Photos: CJ E&M)

A poster of the film “The Battle: Roar to Victory.”

The Korean action-comedy disaster film “Exit” attracted more than 6 million moviegoers in the 14 days since it was released July 31.

Online data compiled by the Korean Film Council as of Aug. 13 showed that the film ranked No. 1 at the box office 14 days after premiering. The film once handed over the No. 1 position to the action film “The Battle: Roar to Victory,” which premiered in Korea on Aug. 7, but the former retook the top position by narrow margin.

“The Battle: Roar to Victory” tells the story of a fierce four-day battle that took place between Korean independence militia and imperialist Japanese forces in Manchuria, China. The film “Exit” continued its roll on the back of rave reviews, and it is expected to hit a threshold of attracting more than 8 million moviegoers.

CJ E&M has become a Korean investor and distributer to have produced five films so far this year and all have been hit movies to achieve a rare streak. Out of the four, the film “Extreme Job” attracted 16.26 million moviegoers, joining the club of mega-hit films.

The film “Parasite,” the winner of the coveted Palme d’Or, joined drew more than 10 million moviegoers. Two other films – “Savaha: The Sixth Finger” and “Miss & Mrs. Cops” lured 2.39 million and 1.62 million moviegoers, respectively – turned a profit for the company.

The film “Exit,” which cost 13 billion won in film production expenses, also surpassed its break-even point when it attracted 3.6 million moviegoers.

Provisional figures showed that CJ E&M posted 171.9 billion won in sales and 28.8 billion won in operating profit in the first six months of the year. CJ E&M’s H1 performance was the best-ever since the company entered the film-making business.
With the addition of the box-office revenues of the film “Exit,” CJ E&M is forecast to log about 40 billion won in operating profit in the first eight months of this year.

CJ E&M’s latest operating profit was a dramatic turnaround from the losses the company experienced for the recent three years between 2016 and 2018.

What CJ E&M earned in operating profit on the back of filming five films is predicted to make up for cumulative losses the company incurred during the three years.

Lym Myung-gyun, head of the Korean film business at CJ E&M, said the film-making business is a tumultuous business segment, and the company was lucky. CJ E&M’s selects pieces departing from the conventional viewpoint by analyzing viewers’ trends, and that has paid off, he said.

The film “Exit” has been credited with creating a Korean style disaster film by breaking the conventional mold.

A poster of the film “Parasite.” / A poster of the film “Extreme Job.”

A poster of the film “Savaha.” / A poster of the film “Miss & Mrs. Cops.”