Are there less movies being released from Asia?

[darry]

Idk about everyone else but are South Korea, China, Hong Kong et al. releasing less movies in total and therefore less blurays? Back in the 2010s I felt like there was something to pick up every couple of months and I couldn't keep up. Now I look for stuff get from the blu-ray shops overseas and there's basically just the blockbuster title every now and then. What's going on? Some will probably argue streaming has taken over but I rarely see Asian movies on streaming services apart from the most obviously promoted SK dramas I don't care about anyway.

[e_d]

Definitely feels like a lot less BD has been coming out of HK (minus blockbusters) ever since Covid.

[logboy]

south korea and HK only managed a trickle, even at what was a relative height of the physical media market globally. SK in particular never had much of a market for buying films, because cinema releases go on for so long. HK is okay with DVD i suspect. it’s probably also much more about how good internet speeds and availability is across asia.

[darry]

Originally Posted by logboy

south korea and HK only managed a trickle, even at what was a relative height of the physical media market globally. SK in particular never had much of a market for buying films, because cinema releases go on for so long. HK is okay with DVD i suspect. it’s probably also much more about how good internet speeds and availability is across asia.

Hmm, possibly, but in prior years I feel like we had access to more films from SK and China. If you heard good word of mouth reviews about a movie it was likely you'd find it eventually, even after a couple of years. And even with blockbusters, a film like A Little Red Flower, which was the biggest film in China in 2020, I cannot see was even mentioned anywhere outside of China.

Look at the top 10 movies in SK in 2021:
1 Escape From Mogadishu
2 Sinkhole
3 Hostage: Missing Celebrity
4 On the Line
5 Hard Hit
6 The Medium
7 Spiritwalker
8 Miracle
9 Nothing Serious
10 Perhaps Love

The only one I've heard of is no.1. Go back any year earlier and at least 8 of these would have been released.

[alexavril]

some labels from hong kong closed recently，deltamac，intercontinental video，mega star， mediaasia，mei ah，

south korean labels tend to release movies in dvd

[logboy]

Originally Posted by darry

Hmm, possibly, but in prior years I feel like we had access to more films from SK and China.

yes, you had more. we all did. now you have less. if it had been a huge market, it wouldn't have been this easy to see it virtually disappear. it was barely visible as it was.

even on DVD twenty years ago, SK films were fairly low in quantities - it just dropped off.

their markets contain more aspects than us western imports need pay attention to. DVD appeared to be mostly for rental locations, viewing rooms. i can remember 'lady vengeance' DVD was only 1000 copies on the initial press - it was still quite easy to pick it up for quite some time.

[darry]

Originally Posted by alexavril

some labels from hong kong closed recently，deltamac，intercontinental video，mega star， mediaasia，mei ah，

Didn't know that. That's a few labels. No wonder.

[Richardrli]

There are lots of Mainland Chinese films being made that go straight to internet streaming.

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by alexavril

some labels from hong kong closed recently，deltamac，intercontinental video，mega star， mediaasia，mei ah，

I wouldn't say they closed recently. I don't think any of those labels have put out anything in 15+ years, at least under those names. Some closed down or changed names (MegaStar / Media Asia), some only license films out (Mei Ah), etc. All that's really left for backcatalog material is Panorama and maybe CN, and even they seem to have basically thrown in the towel.