Song Joong Ki couldn’t hold back tears while discussing the disappointing box office performance of his latest feature Bogota: City of the Lost (Bogota) during a special screening event at Megabox Theater in Seoul’s Seongsu district on January 12th.
The actor, who commanded record-breaking viewership with JTBC’s Reborn Rich in 2022, has been facing headwinds with his recent theatrical releases. Following underwhelming performances of Hopeless and My Name Is Loh Kiwan, Bogota marks his third consecutive box office challenge.
“Korean cinema is going through incredibly difficult times right now. We’re grateful just to have our films screening in theaters,” Song shared with raw emotion. “That’s why we pushed harder than ever with promotions. We wanted people to know about our work and see it in its best light.”
Song, fighting back tears, reflected on his role as a performer: “An actor’s job is to create good content that provides comfort to audiences. I will continue striving to deliver diverse and entertaining works that can give strength to people,” before becoming visibly emotional.
The stakes were particularly high for Bogota, a Colombian-set feature with a production budget of 12.5 billion KRW (approximately $8.6 million USD). While the break-even point was set at 3 million admissions, the film has only managed to draw 400,000 viewers as of January 15th, according to the Korean Film Council.
Adding gravity to the moment, Lee Sung Min, who previously collaborated with Song in Reborn Rich, appeared as a special guest and offered a sobering industry perspective: “Theaters are empty. There could be many reasons, but when there are no audiences in theaters, actors really struggle. Especially when releasing a film during such times—it’s devastating.” He pleaded to audiences: “Nevertheless, this is what actors must endure. Please support us till the very end.”
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