[HanCinema's News] The curious failure of "Hit-and-Run Squad"

"Hit-and-Run Squad" has failed to meet expectations. Though heavily promoted until its release on January 30th, with the release of "Svaha: The Sixth Finger" on February 20th, the screen presence of "Hit-and-Run Squad" has almost completely disintegrated. It is currently tracking at 1,825,750 admissions and is unlikely to break two million.

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The most obvious explanation for the movie's poor performance is the unexpected success of "Extreme Job". As both movies are about cops chasing criminals, there's obvious overlap in potential audience. But "Extreme Job" was able to distinguish itself as an aggressive comedy, while "Hit-and-Run Squad" plays as a more traditional police movie.

"Hit-and-Run Squad" has also suffered from middling reactions from viewers. The film currently holds a 7.23 user rating on Naver and a 6.8 user rating on Daum.

Of course, success here is relative. "Innocent Witness" is currently celebrating far more modest milestones than "Hit-and-Run Squad" because the former movie had much lower expectations. "Hit-and-Run Squad" had a much higher budget and a far more aggressive advertising push than "Innocent Witness" or even "Extreme Job", rather frustrating the film's promoters at Showbox.

Written by William Schwartz