Korean Film Council attempts to discourage illegal resales

Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster, "The Odyssey," has created a severe ticket scalping frenzy in Korea, prompting the state-run Korean Film Council to begin collecting reports from the public on illegal resales.

"The Odyssey" is the first feature film shot entirely on IMAX film cameras. Korea has no theater equipped with 70-mm film projection to display the movie in its full 1.43:1 aspect ratio. The closest venue is the CGV theater at Yongsan Station, Seoul, making its tickets among the most sought-after in the country.

When ticket sales opened on Aug. 5, CGV's website and mobile application experienced severe slowdowns due to massive traffic. The first two screenings on opening day sold out within minutes, except for wheelchair-accessible seats and front-row spots.

The surge in demand shifted to online secondhand marketplaces. On platforms such as Bunjang and Karrot Market, tickets originally priced between 17,000 won and 21,000 won appeared for nearly 100,000 won ($72).

On Thursday, listings on Karrot Market showed a pair of side-by-side seats at the CGV theater in Yongsan being resold for 190,000 won, while single tickets were listed for as high as 95,000 won each.

Ticket scalping for the film has also surfaced globally. In New York, a pair of $33 tickets resold for up to $999 on secondary platforms, according to local reports. With only 25 true 70-mm IMAX theaters operating across the United States, similar shortages and scalping issues have been reported.

Moviegoers in Seoul expressed enthusiasm for the format despite the inflated resale prices.

"After watching it in a standard theater and then in IMAX, I understood why this movie has to be experienced in IMAX," one person who just watched the film said outside the Yongsan theater Tuesday.

To curb illegal ticket resales, the Korean Film Council, the state-run film promotion agency, is encouraging the public to report suspected scalping activities, including online resale posts and automated macro software used for bulk bookings.

Reports can be submitted with details such as showtimes, seat numbers and screenshots to a dedicated email address managed by the council, the agency said Wednesday.

CGV also prohibits illegal ticket resales. The nation's largest multiplex chain states in its terms of service that purchasing tickets through macro programs and reselling them are prohibited.

However, punishing ticket scalpers remains difficult under current regulations. A new anti-scalping law set to take effect on Aug. 28 prohibits the resale of tickets at a premium regardless of macro software use, but it applies to live performances and sports events, leaving movie tickets in a legal gray zone.

This leaves theater chains to manage resales independently. CGV previously restricted or canceled accounts found reselling tickets during the release of "Avengers: Endgame," but questions remain over whether self-policing can curb the black market as "The Odyssey" continues to draw large crowds.

This is not the first time ticket scalping has surfaced at the IMAX theater. During the release of Marvel's "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019, tickets for the same venue were resold for up to 220,000 won.

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