[HanCinema's News] "One Win" Suffers From Remarkably Bad Box Office Timing

On December 10th, the Korean Film Council reported that "Firefighters" had clawed its way to the top of the South Korean box office, earning 86,232 admissions for a grand total of 919,782 admissions. Though "Firefighters" is certain to beat the million viewer mark, the victory is bittersweet, as the disaster film struggled for the last week against Moana 2 despite "Firefighters" being a new release. But even that situation is a marked improvement over the failure "One Win" at the box office.

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Part of the problem with "One Win" was simple bad timing in a competitive late season schedule. A sentimental film like "One Win" needed time to built up strong word of mouth, and had to struggle against both "Firefighters" as well as Wicked and Moana for distinction when "One Win" had ther most placid genre conventions of the four as a whole. Sports movies in general aren't a strong draw at the South Korean box office even without serious competition.

Even Song Kang-ho's presence as the lead actor could only go so far, the actor's strong reputation undermined by his last major hit being "Parasite" all the way back in 2019. Despite Song Kang-ho's indisputable talent as a performer, he still needs the right kind of project to create a true breakout hit. His charisma alone isn't enough to carry any film, and reactions to "One Win" on South Korean social media have been mixed despite the project receiving key endorsements from other celebrities.

In a sense "One Win" may have been too clever for its own good. As the title implies, the story isn't even about a good team, just one desperate enough to achieve even a single win. "Dream - 2020" had a similar story, and was likewise a difficult sell to audiences even as it did eventually manage to pass a million viewers. South Korean filmgoers are already looking ahead to "Harbin" at any rate, the historical spy film already leading CGV reservations despite its premiere being two weeks away.

Written by William Schwartz