Media Context: Parasite (2019)

 Parasite (2019)

Media Context: Distribution of Parasite

Budget

13.5 billion KRW = $10.219 million USD

Against its competitor 1917 with $90 million 

Profit globally: $263 million

Profit Korean: $72.9 million USD

Japan: $22.7 million 

Vietnam: $4.9 million 

→ Compare to Black Panther: 2.5 million USD in first 5 days

→ Compare to Crazy Rich Asian: 34 million USD in first 5 days

Could be attributed to the fact that Vietnamese audiences may not find the premise of the movie palatable, as most cinema goers want to enjoy a light-hearted, relatable and with an optimistic message that aligns with personal values. 

US:  $44.3 million

UK: $6.64 million, now the highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time at the UK box office

France: $13.9 million (where Cannes is hosted, which is first premiered of the movie)

Global territories

How, where, when

First premiered in Cannes Film Festival in 21 May ,2019

First released in Korea in 30 May, 2019

Released in Australia and New Zealand on 27 June 2019

Distributing companies

• Neon (US and Canada) →  at the 2018 American Film Market: Neon is an indie distributor that launched in 2017, with some notable titles being I, Tonya; Apollo 11, Honeyland. Neon was able to secure a deal with Parasite as its CEO, Tim League has worked with the director Bong Joon-ho for previous projects such as Snowpiercer and Okja. 
• Madman Films (Australia and New Zealand), 2019: Madman is an independent distributor (although its Madman Anime branch is a subsidiary of Sony Pictures), which debuted in 1996 and focused on feature films, documentaries and television series in both cinema and personal owning. 
• Eagles Pictures, 2020 (Italy):  a leading Italian independent distributor that was founded in 1986, focuses on feature film and theater distribution, which is recognized by large production companies such as Sony Pictures, Paramount, etc. 
• Koch Films (German speaking territories): Independent film distributor and video game developer began in 2015, which has been acquitted by Embracer Group, a Swedish-based video game distributor (2018) and  just recently rebranded into Plaidon (2022). 
• Bitters End (Japan): An incorporated distribution company that mainly focuses on feature films in cinemas, DVD and TV, such as "PARASITE","SO LONG, MY SON" and "ABOUT ENDLESSNESS"
• CJ HK Entertainment (Vietnam), 2019: Korean giant film distributor has a branch in Vietnam, started to premiere Parasite in Vietnam in June, 2019, and decided to re-run the title after its claim of Oscar awards, back in February, 2020.  

Digital marketing and distribution

Social media presence is pushed: Hashtag and trend waves such as #BongHive (a fanmade name for proclaimed enthusiasts of Director Bong’s works), and most notoriously Jessica Jingle, a chant of easy-to-learn phrases that was originally used by a character to cover up her real identity, exploded into a social media phenomenon. It is then used as a sound stock for funny, non-related short videos, and many strive to learn it by heart. 

Neon, as a distributor, really taps into the gist of social media content, by releasing promotion videos of director, actors, exclusive cuts on various platforms, notably Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. This is surprisingly smart and appropriate, which delivers the movie’s main message of class struggles to the growingly conscious yet bored-out younger audience, in a very trendy and humorous approach.

Therefore, or similarly, the marketing campaign rides off the wave of Hallyu (Korean Culture Wave), which mainly influences younger audiences. The curiosity and intrigue of East Asian culture, repackaged into approachable, accessorized and “aestheticized” by the distributor and the internet, piqued the interest of Western audiences. Parasite, to me, was a clear case of “right audience, right time”. 

Age restriction in Vietnam

It is tagged as C15 in Vietnam (appropriate for audiences from 15 years of age), and has sparked little to no controversies over that rating (even though Vietnam is known for strict restriction of rating and mature material - for instance,  a title named Ròm, which is domestically made and produced, is banned from screening as it depicts “negative” and “untrue” image of Saigon’s living condition). This matches with the Korean’s rating, although differs from American R rating, as theorized to be due to its usage of explicit, cursing language. 

Legal and illegal watch in Vietnam

Despite efforts of official distributors and even government agencies, piracy is unavoidable to any titles, and especially with titles as big as Parasite. With a click of a mouse, 792,000 results popped up within 0.34 seconds, in which only 3 sites of the first page were from copy-righted, paid-to-access content. Pirated sites always plague with pop up advertisements and slow loading speed, but provide an alternative for people who haven’t seen the movie on the silver screen, and don’t want to purchase a one-off title. 

More extensively, is the amount of film review and analysis, explanation content based on Parasite, showing the fascination the general audience has, and willing to decode more hidden context.