According to Osen, recently, a video recording the audience interaction of the actors of the movie "Bogota: City of the Lost" posted on YouTube has attracted attention.
The two actors of the film, Song Joong Ki and Lee Hee Joon, along with special guest actor Lee Sung Min, were present to chat and answer questions from the audience.
Lee Sung Min came to support Song Joong Ki. The two previously worked together in the TV series “The Youngest Son of a Rich Man,” playing the role of grandfather and grandson of the Jin family.
At the end of the talk, Lee Sung Min spoke frankly about the difficulties that the Korean film industry and actors are facing: “When I came here, I was heartbroken to see the empty parking lot. It seemed like there weren't many people at the theater.
There are probably many reasons, but it's really hard for actors when there's no audience in the theater. Especially for films released at this time, it makes us feel like we want to die."
Lee Sung Min continued, “But as actors, this is something we have to bear. Please give us strength.”
Lee Hee Joon also expressed disappointment that “Bogota: City of the Lost” went through many difficulties to be released, but the box office revenue was poor.
“We knew that ‘Bogota’ would not reach 10 million tickets, the result was lower than expected. But I am still grateful to the audience who came today,” he said.
This is a precious film for us, who overcame the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago to be able to reach the audience. This is also officially the last promotion of “Bogota”. Thank you for your concern until the end."
Song Joong Ki's comments then attracted the most attention. He expressed: "As Sung Min said, Korean movies are in a difficult situation right now. Right now, I'm grateful that at least my movie is being shown in theaters.
So I worked harder than ever to promote the movie. Even though there were many shortcomings and criticism, I still tried to improve the situation. I would like to thank everyone who watched the movie.
“Although the film industry is facing difficulties, it is the role of actors to create good content to comfort audiences and make them laugh in dark times. We will continue to do our best to create various works that give strength to everyone.”
In the middle of his speech, Song Joong Ki became emotional, his voice trembling: “Talking about this makes me choke up…”. After a few seconds of silence to regain his composure, he ended with the words “Sincerely thank you” with tears in his eyes.
“Bogota: City of the Lost” was released on December 31, 2024. According to the Korean Film Council, as of January 15, the film’s cumulative sales had only reached 400,000 tickets, far from the break-even point of 3 million tickets.
