A government-backed effort to set a 150-day gap between a Korean film’s theatrical release and its arrival on streaming or IPTV has stalled after industry participants failed to reach agreement. The proposal was meant to slow the rapid move of new films from cinemas to home viewing, but competing interests among theaters, producers, distributors and online platforms have kept the voluntary arrangement from moving forward.
The Culture Ministry and Korean Film Council created a public-private working group in late May with 22 participants from across the distribution chain. The group was supposed to finish discussions by August, but five meetings ended without a final compromise. The central dispute is how long cinemas should receive exclusive access to new releases and whether a uniform rule would help or hurt films with very different commercial prospects.
One release window, several competing interests
Supporters of a holdback period argue that faster streaming releases can weaken incentives to see films in theaters and further pressure a cinema business still recovering from the pandemic-era collapse in attendance. Streaming and distribution companies, however, have their own timing and revenue considerations, while producers may want flexibility to move a weak theatrical release onto other platforms quickly. A fixed 150-day window therefore redistributes bargaining power as much as it changes release timing.
For audiences, the argument could shape how long new Korean films remain cinema-only and when they appear on subscription services or paid digital platforms. For the industry, it is a test of whether voluntary coordination can produce a common distribution rule without legislation. With the August target missed and no agreement from the fifth meeting, the ministry now faces a choice between extending negotiations, revising the proposed window or leaving release timing to individual contracts.