"Odyssey" special screening ticket scalping surges... Korean Film Council continuously accepts reports

The Korean Film Council has recently begun investigating the actual conditions of ticket scalping for special theater screenings. This action follows reports that tickets for Christopher Nolan’s film ″Odysssey,″ currently showing at the CGV Yongsan I’Park Mall IMAX theater (YongIMAX), are being resold on secondhand trading platforms at prices several times higher than the face value, along with suspicions of mass bookings using macro programs. On the 19th, the Korean Film Council announced that it will continuously accept related reports to understand the actual conditions of illegal transactions (scalping) of special theater tickets such as IMAX, 4DX, and Dolby Cinema, aiming to prevent audience harm and create a fair movie-watching environment. The Council explained, ″This is to identify the actual conditions of illegal ticket transactions at movie theaters and to prepare countermeasures to prevent audience harm and ensure a fair movie-watching environment.″ Eligible reports include cases where individuals suffered damages due to reselling special theater seat reservation tickets at inflated prices, cases where scalping posts or suspicious circumstances were found on secondhand trading platforms, social media, or ticket trading sites, and cases where abnormal mass bookings and illegal distribution suspected to involve macro programs were identified. When submitting a report, detailed information such as the movie title, theater name, screening date and time, seat number, seller’s asking price, transaction method, and supporting evidence such as screenshots of secondhand trading or social media sales posts, conversation records with the seller, and transaction URLs should be attached and sent to the dedicated email (justice@kofic.or.kr). The Korean Film Council plans to analyze the structure of scalping distribution and the extent of damages based on the collected reports. This data will be used to coordinate with major online trading platforms and relevant government agencies, improve distribution prevention systems, and supplement legal and institutional measures. The Council also stated that the identity of informants and the contents of reports will be strictly kept confidential in accordance with relevant laws. Meanwhile, ″Odysssey″ is the first feature film shot entirely on 70mm IMAX film cameras and is screened exclusively at YongIMAX with a 1.43:1 aspect ratio, leading to fierce competition for reservations. Although the face value of YongIMAX tickets ranges from 17,000 to 22,000 KRW, cases of online transactions at prices between 100,000 and 150,000 KRW have been confirmed. Since its release on August 5, 5.39 million viewers have watched the film, and as of the 19th, most showtimes at YongIMAX are sold out.