With intense attention fixed on the summer peak-season films, the film industry press was on the verge of exploding.
No—
the bombardment had already begun.
[Island of the Missing opens at No. 1 in advance ticket sales, pushing past other blockbuster films!]
Peak season at the theaters breathes new life into the media industry as well.
The same goes for the entertainment industry as a whole.
New films open every week, clashing fiercely against one another.
What could be more entertaining than that?
For filmmakers, it may be a painful season, but for the media and the public, there could hardly be a better spectacle.
[[Film] "Competition in peak-season theaters intensifies," Island of the Missing takes first place, continued shifts in reservation rankings expected]
People watch the movies they are interested in, while also keeping an eye on the competitive landscape of the film industry.
Which film is gaining traction.
Which film is stumbling at the box office.
Naturally, the most entertaining part is the fight.
That was why not only the public, but the entire entertainment industry, had its eyes fixed on the theaters.
That meant demand was high, and as time passed, articles and all kinds of media updates poured out in waves.
And right now, the hottest new release was Island of the Missing.
Among the many films currently in theaters, it had taken first place in advance ticket sales.
Of course, that number was not everything, and it could be temporary.
But for now, it was undeniably a positive sign.
"A blockbuster film."
The term referred to a commercial movie made with box-office success in mind, involving a famous director or actors, or a production backed by massive investment.
In other words, a film surrounded by major expectations.
If a movie like that succeeded at the box office and became the face of the industry or its distributor, it earned the title of a "tentpole masterpiece."
But there were many obstacles to overcome.
No matter how much expectation surrounded it, no matter how grandly it was made as a blockbuster, if it failed at the box office, it was simply forgotten.
Likewise, even if more than ten films were treated as blockbusters, if they all failed, then none of them truly earned that title.
That was how cold audiences—the public—could be.
Even in the height of movie season, directors, production companies, distributors, and actors walked a harsh road.
While hoping for blockbuster success, they also faced the possibility that the years and vast sums they had poured into their work could vanish without reward.
[Island of the Missing off to a strong start, but first-day word of mouth will be crucial]
With that in mind, Island of the Missing, currently ranked No. 1 in advance ticket sales, seemed to be signaling certain success.
It was not just hype.
In reality, theaters showing Island of the Missing across the country were packed with viewers.
Woojin's friends, who had just entered one of those theaters, could not hide their amazement at the sight.
"Wow, there are seriously so many people. Isn't this insane?!"
"Uh, wow. I've never seen this many people before. Island of the Missing is a total hit."
"I still can't believe Woojin is the lead in this movie."
"Yeah, it's peak season and a holiday, but… I had no idea it would be this crowded."
Regardless of where the seats were located, the theater, which held hundreds, was completely full.
More and more viewers were still entering through the main doors near the large screen.
Kim Daeyoung stared wide-eyed.
Lee Kyungseong held a tub of popcorn in one hand.
Na Hyunggu sat pressed right up against his girlfriend.
The three friends, overwhelmed by the enormous crowd, somehow managed to find their seats.
They were slightly closer to the front than the center.
The moment they sat down, as if the timing had been waiting for them, ads began playing on the large screen.
At the same time, Lee Kyungseong, chewing on popcorn, spoke.
"A bunch of stuff happened, but these are decent seats, huh? Nice work, Kim Daeyoung. You even got us seats together."
"I told you, I bought them the second reservations opened. Hyeyeon told me to. Looking at this now, if I'd been even a little late, we would've been screwed."
The voices of nearby viewers drifted into the friends' ears.
"No way, no way! Oppa, if we hadn't reserved in advance, we would've been dead, right?"
"Seriously. Wow, it's been a long time since I've seen a sold-out theater."
"Ha, I'm excited. Drug Dealer was seriously fun last time. Since Kang Woojin is in this too, it should be good, right?"
"Well. But the premiere reactions were really good. And since Director Kwon Gitaek made it, we probably don't need to worry about it flopping."
Couples.
Male and female friends.
Families.
"Hey, if this movie sucks, you're dead, got it?"
"Stop whining and just sit quietly and watch. The cast is great, and honestly, none of the projects Kang Woojin has been in have failed."
"Damn it, I want to watch Secret Mission 5. That movie blew up overseas as a masterpiece."
"Watch that after this, idiot."
Even before the movie began, the entire atmosphere was soaked in anticipation.
"Did you see the trailer with Ryu Jungmin and Kang Woojin in uniform? It looked so cool."
"Right! Haha, honestly, I'm here because of Kang Woojin. I completely fell for Han Inho in Boy Friend… I'm really looking forward to this movie too."
Then it happened.
-Shhh.
The ads ended, and the lights in the theater went out.
It was the signal that Island of the Missing was about to begin.
The hundreds of viewers filling the theater all fell silent.
A brief stillness.
Inside the theater, only the occasional cough, small rustling movements, and the sound of popcorn being chewed could be heard.
It stayed that way for a few seconds.
Then suddenly, a powerful sound effect burst through the entire theater.
-♬♪
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of someone running through the brush.
A man's rough breathing.
The sound came first, and only then did the image appear on the massive screen.
-["Ugh! Gah! Hah! Damn it—damn it!"]
Private Kim was shown running through a dense forest.
The eyes of the hundreds of viewers shifted to the screen all at once.
Woojin's close friends were no exception.
Then Private Kim screamed on screen.
The rifle in his hands trembled.
The camera angle caught his crazed face, then followed his gaze deeper into the forest.
Silence fell, but a chilling atmosphere spread through the theater.
Then—
-Bang! Bang! Bang bang bang!
Gunfire filled the entire auditorium.
And then—
-["Ugh, Sergeant Kim."]
An unfamiliar voice was heard.
About half the audience tilted their heads with curious looks.
At that exact moment—
-Smack!
A powerful sound effect exploded through the theater.
Most of the audience jerked in shock.
"Kyaa!"
"Ahhh!!"
"Ah!"
Private Kim's head was suddenly smashed apart by a long object that came flying in.
Fragments scattered across the giant screen.
At the peak of the tension, the title appeared.
Island of the Missing
The screen went dark again, then changed.
The location was now a morgue.
A man in military uniform stood there.
The camera slowly shifted from his back to his front.
It was Kang Woojin.
No—
it was Sergeant Jin Seoncheol.
As his face filled the screen, subtle movement stirred among the hundreds in the audience.
They whispered quietly, trying not to be noticed.
"Wow, he looks completely different."
"Is that really Kang Woojin?"
His close friends felt something complicated.
'Wow. He's there right from the start? Being the lead really hits different.'
'…I didn't know that bastard had this side to him. He does look cool, but he also feels weirdly unfamiliar. Damn it.'
'This is really interesting.'
Was it admiration.
Was it delight.
Or maybe it was some indirect sense of satisfaction.
-["Ah— mm."]
The character played by Kang Woojin glanced around uneasily.
Anxiety, shyness, timidity, hesitation—all of it was plainly visible on his face.
His movements were minimal.
Lacking.
Weak.
His indecisiveness was painfully obvious.
That was the very first impression Kang Woojin left on the hundreds of viewers.
'What is this? He kind of looks like an easy target.'
'He's unusual, but he also feels strangely familiar.'
'His acting is excellent, like always. But we've seen timid roles too many times already.'
'He's surprisingly ordinary.'
That was what they thought.
His acting seemed good enough, but the character itself felt like someone they had seen somewhere before.
Meanwhile, the morgue staff continued speaking to him.
-["Will you confirm it…?"]
-["..."]
-["What would you like to do? If this is too difficult..."]
-["I-I'll take a look."]
Kang Woojin—or rather, Sergeant Jin Seoncheol—kept mumbling.
He looked around uneasily.
Nervous.
Lacking confidence.
Consumed by fear.
But the moment he saw his mother lying in the morgue—
-["…Mom. Mom."]
He collapsed.
He burst into tears.
He dropped helplessly to his knees.
Yet even in the middle of his crying, his timidity remained visible.
He swallowed back his sobs.
For a moment, the sound of his suppressed weeping spread through the entire theater.
The audience was moved by it.
'His acting is… really good.'
Even if the character looked ordinary on the surface, the emotional shift unfolded naturally and quickly.
Combined with the directing, the audience's immersion rose sharply.
And then—
"...What?"
Most of the audience now had question marks in their eyes.
It was because of Woojin's face, which filled the large screen.
His head was lowered, eyes cast toward the floor, while the camera looked up at him from below.
Kang Woojin's eyes.
His pupils were timid one moment, then swirling and changing the next.
They switched rapidly, repeatedly.
The hundreds of viewers felt curiosity pounding in their chests, and a chill rose over their skin.
'What is this? What's happening all of a sudden?'
'Damn, that expression is creepy.'
'No way. Does he have multiple personalities?'
The Woojin on screen now felt completely alien.
Even without special dialogue, the audience could vividly feel his state through those constantly shifting changes.
From that moment on, viewers began noticing it one by one.
"He doesn't seem sane."
"He's not just timid. Could it be some kind of mental illness?"
There was clearly something inside Sergeant Jin Seoncheol.
At that moment—
-Shhh.
The Kang Woojin who had been sobbing on screen suddenly stopped crying.
His trembling body went rigid.
Had the atmosphere changed?
The hundreds of startled viewers were suddenly faced with a completely different Kang Woojin.
The weakness that had clung to him until now had vanished without a trace.
He looked vicious.
Madness flickered in his eyes.
As if stretching out his body, Kang Woojin slowly rolled his neck from side to side.
And finally, the line came.
His voice was as cold as ice.
["Shut up. It's my time now."]
The camera angle was a close-up of his upper body only.
Sergeant Jin Seoncheol was smiling faintly.
He looked like a completely different person.
At that instant, the friends sitting in the theater nearly lost strength in their legs.
'I—I almost pissed myself. Wow, this bastard's acting is completely insane.'
'He really nailed it. Does his acting get better every single year?'
Na Hyunggu glanced at his girlfriend sitting beside him, staring in a daze, and suffered inwardly.
'Damn it. As a friend, this is fine, but I seriously hate that my girlfriend is completely falling for him. This is driving me crazy.'
The audience gathered in the theater became captivated in an instant by the Kang Woojin on screen.
-["Cover it up."]
It was never stated directly through Sergeant Jin Seoncheol's lines or the subtitles, but the audience had already realized it.
That man has multiple personalities.
The completely changed Woojin left the morgue.
The camera followed the sound of his military boots.
He arrived at a restroom.
Kang Woojin looked at his phone.
As if he had found something, the corners of his mouth curled up broadly.
["Heh. You fucking bitch. How much is the insurance money?"]
At the same time, a reaction rippled across the whole theater.
Almost everyone responded with one voice.
"Whoa—"
"Whoa..."
"Khh!"
That was the charm of the movie theater.
It should not become disruptive, but everyone got to experience it together.
In just ten minutes, Kang Woojin had taken hold of hundreds of viewers.
But—
that was only the beginning.
──────────
The next morning.
The morning after the storm and tsunami had passed, the time for the results arrived.
Naturally, the talk was all about Island of the Missing.
In truth, talk about the movie's performance had already been spreading everywhere, starting from early morning.
From movie communities to SNS, YouTube, and all kinds of media outlets and news platforms.
Across all of those places, people were curious about who had won this movie battle.
Of course, that curiosity was not limited to the online world.
It was just as present offline.
People at work.
"Assistant Manager Kim, did you see Island of the Missing? It opened yesterday."
"Ah, no. I'm thinking of watching it this weekend. But my expectations aren't that high."
"Why not? It was seriously amazing!"
"Mm, it's just… it seems like a thriller movie, and I'm not really into that genre."
"Oh, you really have to see it. It was seriously so good! Even though yesterday was a weekday, the theater I went to was packed. Totally sold out."
"Really?? There are so many new movies out right now. Do you think Island of the Missing will take first place?"
"One hundred percent!"
"We'll see."
Or conversations between friends.
Because it was the long-awaited boom season for the movie industry, the public was buzzing with excitement.
There were many movies to watch, and the competition among the new releases itself was entertaining.
With even popular Hollywood franchise films included, it was even more exciting.
Inside the entertainment industry, the rivalry was even fiercer.
The mood was extremely heated.
There were countless actors from all kinds of agencies, production companies, film companies, and broadcasters.
"Which film do you think will take first place? Do you still think it'll be Island of the Missing?"
"That's the feeling I get, but there could be an unexpected twist. There are just too many strong films right now."
"Right. So many major films opened at once that it's dizzying. It really is peak season."
"I feel like something big is going to happen this time."
"Something big?"
"Yeah. Like a movie finally breaking ten million viewers again for the first time in a while."
"Ah, anyway, I'm putting my money on Island of the Missing!"
But it was not time yet.
There were still a few minutes left before the official results would be announced.
So even Kang Woojin, who was currently on his way to the set of The Stranger's Grim Sacrifice in Japan, was tense.
'Ah, damn it, the results still aren't out?? I'm seriously nervous.'
He acted strong, but he could not hide his anxiety.
His butt kept trembling slightly.
The other actors from Island of the Missing felt the same way.
Ryu Jungmin, who was in the middle of a photoshoot.
Ha Yura, who was in a meeting.
Kim Iwon, resting at home.
Jeon Woochang, lifting dumbbells at the gym.
Even Hong Hyeyeon, who had made a special appearance.
Each of them kept glancing at their phones or sneaking looks at their managers while pretending to focus on their own work.
All of them waited nervously for the result.
Then—
-Click!
The sound of a mouse clicking echoed through a mid-sized studio.
It was Harmony Film Studio, the company behind Island of the Missing.
The same place where the earlier preview screening had been held.
Director Kwon Gitaek was there.
Of course, so were the key staff, the film company CEO, executives, and distribution personnel.
Roughly fifty people in total.
"..."
Everyone's eyes, including those of the usually quiet and serious Director Kwon Gitaek, were fixed on the screen at the front.
Naturally, what was displayed there was not the movie, but the laptop screen of the staff member standing beside it.
-[KOBIS Integrated Computer Network]
It was the official site where the box office results for the entire Korean film industry could be checked.
But it still had not updated.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Fifteen minutes.
As time passed, the expressions of the people gathered in the studio darkened.
Director Kwon Gitaek, who had been standing with his arms crossed, was no exception.
And then, finally, it happened.
"It's up!! It's there!!"
The staff member in front of the laptop shouted.
At once, all fifty people, including Director Kwon Gitaek, turned their heads toward the screen.
The result appeared immediately.
[May 19, 2021 Audience Count]
[Daily Domestic Box Office]
Island of the Missing / Opening Date: May 19 / Audience: 700,223 / Screens: 1,159 / Total Audience: 700,223
Uprising / Opening Date: May 19 / Audience: 141,781 / Screens: 1,001 / Total Audience: 141,781
Secret Mission 5 / Opening Date: May 12 / Audience: 110,059 / Screens: 955 / Total Audience: 2,435,578
Smugglers / Opening Date: May 19 / Audience: 80,155 / Screens: 910 / Total Audience: 80,155
.
.
.
With 700,000 viewers in a single day, Island of the Missing had become a massive hit.
And on top of that—
[[Official] Island of the Missing ties the all-time opening-day record with 700,000 viewers… could it reclaim the No. 1 box office spot for the first time in 7 years?]
It had tied the all-time No. 1 film in Korea for total first-day audience count.