Korean Movies That Broke Even in 2025

2024 List: https://www.fmkorea.com/7850766276

1. Hitman 2 Break-even point (BEP): 2.3M / Cumulative audience: 2.54M. Reviews weren't that great, but since the first one did okay and By4M went hard on the aggressive marketing, it became the first movie of 2025 to break even.

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2. Dark Nuns BEP: 1.6M / Cumulative: 1.65M. Also had pretty mid reviews, and because of some issues that popped off before the release, people thought it'd struggle more than Hitman 2. As expected, it got pushed back by Hitman 2 after the first 4 days, but it barely managed to scrape past the BEP.

3. Secret BEP: 800k / Cumulative: 820k. It technically broke even, but it didn't even hit 1M total, so it's hard to call it a 'success.' Anyway, unlike last year, every movie released during the Lunar New Year holiday managed to break even.

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4. The Match BEP: 1.8M / Cumulative: 2.14M. By4M again. Delayed forever because of the Yoo Ah-in risk and almost went straight to Netflix, but they finally decided on a theatrical release, which turned out to be a masterstroke. The chemistry between Lee Byung-hun and Yoo Ah-in was fire, and it was a huge hit with the older crowd.

5. Opposition BEP: 2.5M / Cumulative: 3.37M (Standard) + 27k (Director's Cut). This is the #1 R-rated hit of the 2020s so far, and even if you look at all-time R-rated movies, it did pretty damn well. Between the timing and the subject matter, you could say this filled the void left by 'The Roundup' since it didn't release this year.

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6. Shinmyeong BEP: 300k / Cumulative: 750k. Don't really have much to say about this one.

7. Noise BEP: 1.0M / Cumulative: 1.7M. By4M yet-freaking-again. They've been a dark horse distributor since 'The Firefighters' last year. People have mixed feelings about By4M's aggressive marketing style, but honestly, in this economy, being able to make this many movies succeed is a talent.

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8. Zombie Daughter BEP: 2.2M / Cumulative: 5.63M. Jo Jung-suk + Summer + Comedy = Guaranteed Success. He proved it again after 'Exit' and 'Pilot.' Luck was on their side too—'Omniscient Reader' and 'Fantastic Four' both flopped the week before, and the government handed out movie discount coupons. Its early run was even faster than 'Hansan' (which hit 7M). It was the best 'family movie' pick, so it absolutely crushed its BEP.

9. Face BEP: 300k / Cumulative: 1.08M. Production cost was only 200 million won, so the BEP was super low. Plus, it's got the best reviews out of Yeon Sang-ho's recent works, so it did quite well.

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10. Can't Help It BEP: 1.3M / Cumulative: 2.94M. There were articles saying it broke even before release, but that was just the net production cost—it hadn't technically cleared everything yet. Of course, thanks to overseas sales, the bar was lowered significantly, so 1.3M was enough for success. Park Chan-wook movies are always polarizing, but given all the buffs it had (Gov coupons + Culture Day release + 10-day Chuseok holiday), failing to hit 3M is a bit disappointing. Still, it's the #3 Korean movie of the year and cleared the BEP easily, so it's a win.

11. Boss BEP: 1.7M / Cumulative: 2.43M. Reviews were trashed (Hitman 2 level), but proving once again that comedy is king for the holidays, it stayed #1 all through Chuseok. It helped that there was zero competition (who watches a Park Chan-wook movie or an anime movie with their whole family?). Of course, the numbers plummeted as soon as the holiday ended.

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12. Owner of the World BEP: 80k / Cumulative: 180k. For a recent indie film, this did impressively well and cleared the BEP easily. Last year had 11 movies break even, this year has 12. But since last year had two 10-million-seller hits, the actual audience gap is incomparable...

7. 노이즈

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손익분기점: 100만명 누적 관객수: 170만명 또또 바이포엠이다. 작년 소방관부터 다크호스로 거듭나는 배급사인데, 바이포엠 특유의 공격적인 마케팅은 꽤 호불호가 갈리지만 어쨌든 요즘 상황에서 이렇게 많은 영화들을 성공시키는 것도 능력이다.

8. 좀비딸

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손익분기점: 220만명 누적 관객수: 563만명 조정석+여름+코미디=성공. 엑시트에 파일럿에 이어 또 한 번 증명했다. 운도 상당히 잘 따라줬는데, 전 주에 개봉했던 전독시+판포가 망했다는 점, 정부지원 국민 영화관람 할인 쿠폰을 뿌렸다는 점이 있어 초반 흥행에서는 700만을 넘겼던 한산을 앞설 정도였음 가족끼리 즐기기에도 가장 좋았던지라 손익을 훌쩍 넘기며 대 성공

9. 얼굴

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손익분기점: 30만명 누적 관객수: 108만명 제작비가 단 2억이기 때문에 손익분기점도 상당히 낮은 편이고 평가도 최근 연상호 감독 작품 중 가장 좋아 꽤 흥행함.

10. 어쩔수가없다

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손익분기점: 130만명 누적 관객수: 294만명 이미 개봉 전 손익 넘겼다고 하는 기사가 있었는데 그건 순제작비만 회수한거라 정확히 다 넘기진 않았음 물론 해판 덕에 정말 많이 낮아졌기에 최종적으로 관객수 130만 정도만 나와도 성공 박찬욱 감독 영화의 호불호가 있는 거야 뭐 이상한 일도 아니지만 이번 작품은 수많은 버프를 받았기에(정부 쿠폰+문날 개봉+추석 연휴 10일까지) 300만도 못 간건 다소 실망스러울만 하나 이 흥행으로도 2025년 한국 영화 흥행 3위이기도 하고 손익은 훌쩍 넘겼으니 다행인 일

11. 보스

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손익분기점: 170만명 누적 관객수: 243만명 평가가 히트맨2 수준으로 박살났지만 역시 명절엔 코미디라는 것을 증명이라도 하듯 추석 내내 1등하며 손익 가볍게 넘겨버림 경쟁작도 없는게 한몫함(가족끼리 박찬욱 영화, 극장판 애니 보긴 좀) 물론 추석 끝나고 관객수 바로 추락

12. 세계의 주인

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손익분기점: 8만명 누적 관객수: 18만명 최근 개봉한 국산 독립 영화 중에서 상당한 수준의 흥행을 하며 손익을 가뿐히 넘김 작년엔 11편, 올해는 12편. 다만 작년엔 천만 작품 두개가 있어서 관객수 면에서는 비교가 안 될 정도로 차이가..