A scene from the comedy film "Pilot," in which actor Jo Jung-suk plays a cross-dressing man Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment Women filmmakers shine with 3 of 7 profitable films this year By KTimes The comedy film "Pilot," which premiered on July 31, has drawn 3.21 million viewers as of Aug. 13, making it the highest-grossing Korean film of the summer and the third highest-grossing Korean film of the year.
The film has already surpassed its break-even point of 2.2 million viewers. The success is attributed to the combination of Jo Jung-suk's witty performance as a cross-dressing man and the skillful direction of Kim Han-gyeol.
With the success of "Pilot," seven Korean commercial films released this year have now turned a profit. The other six are "Citizen of a Kind" (1.71 million viewers), "Exhuma" (11.
91 million viewers), "The Roundup: Punishment" (11.5 million viewers), "Following," "Handsome Guys" (1.77 million viewers, still in theaters), and "Escape" (2.
55 million viewers, still in theaters). "Pilot" marks the third successful film directed by a woman this year, following "Citizen of a Kind" (directed by Park Young-joo) and "Following" (directed by Kim Se-hwi). In an industry where female-directed commercial films are still rare, this achievement stands out.
The ongoing struggle in the film industry has led to the sentiment: "What would we do without female directors?" This success is expected to draw more attention to female directors who have traditionally been marginali.