“Noryang: Deadly Sea” (2023), despite selling a large number of tickets in its opening week at the Korean box office, struggled in its second week and is expected to fall short of its break-even point.** The film achieved a cumulative audience of 2.3 million in its first week, but quickly lost market share, and as of its third week, has recorded a cumulative audience of just over 4 million.**

The film's failure at the Korean box office has several implications. First, “Noryang” is a sequel to “The Admiral: Roaring Current” (2014), the highest-grossing film in Korean box office history. With a population of just over 50 million, it achieved a cumulative audience of 17.6 million in theaters alone. Considering streaming, this means that most Koreans have seen the first film in the series. However, less than half of the audience who saw the first film went to the theater to see the sequel.**

Secondly, the film's failure is unexpected considering that it features one of Korea's most famous war heroes. The film series follows the journey of Yi Sun-sin, a 16th century Korean naval admiral. He won numerous victories against the invasion led by the Toyotomi shogunate of Japan. The Japanese samurai army had occupied Seoul, the Korean capital, but Yi Sun-sin's navy blocked the Japanese army's supply lines. As a result, the Japanese army had to withdraw from Korea without any accomplishments. Due to Korea's colonization by Japan in the early 20th century, Yi Sun-sin holds more symbolic significance than other war heroes.** However, despite the film depicting Yi Sun-sin's last battle, most viewers turned away from it.

Spoiler Alert! (Historical facts are spoilers, but they may be spoilers if you are not Korean.)

A Lackluster Film

“Noryang: Deadly Sea” is the least memorable film in the “Yi Sun-sin Trilogy” directed by Kim Han-min. “The Admiral: Roaring Current” (2014) was criticized for its excessive emotion, and “Hansan” (2022) for its poorly written script. Nevertheless, these films had memorable scenes that viewers could remember for a long time. Kim Han-min, in particular, put a lot of effort into the visual spectacle of the two previous films.** He researched medieval weapons from Japan and Korea, and the film shows evidence of his efforts to create an impressive naval battle.**

However, “Noryang” simply repeats what was shown in the two previous films. While the film has a much larger proportion of naval battles than the previous two, it is full of repetitive elements that are no longer new. The first half of the film is also not skillful in depicting the protagonist's psychology. In the film, Yi Sun-sin (Kim Yoon-seok) loses his son during the war, but this part induces viewer drowsiness rather than increasing tension.**

Lack of Motivation for Characters

The film mainly focuses on the Battle of Noryang (1597), in which Yi Sun-sin's fleet attacked the Japanese army trying to return to Japan. Those familiar with medieval warfare will understand why Yi Sun-sin fought this battle. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that reducing the number of enemies would reduce the possibility of future invasions, and Yi Sun-sin himself probably thought so.

But Kim Han-min seems to have forgotten that viewers are modern people, and does not explain why Yi Sun-sin needs to keep fighting. The Japanese Daimyo trapped by Yi Sun-sin's naval blockade emphasize that the "war is over" and request a passage. But Yi Sun-sin takes a huge risk to eliminate them all. Many people die, and he himself is eventually shot and killed, but the film does not explain his motives.

Other characters also act inexplicably. Konishi Yukinaga, a Japanese Daimyo besieged by Yi Sun-sin, asks for help from another Daimyo, Shimazu Yoshihiro. Shimazu said that if he attacked Yi Sun-sin's fleet, he would attack Yi Sun-sin as well. But while Shimazu's fleet is completely destroyed by Yi Sun-sin, Konishi does not appear in the film at all. The film does not explain why he does not help Shimazu break the blockade.** Konishi's rescue was an important element of the film, but he disappears completely at some point and does not return.**

Changing Actors

Kim Han-min's “Yi Sun-sin Trilogy” has a different cast each time. The first film featured Choi Min-sik, famous for "Oldboy" (2004), and the second featured Jung Hae-in from "Decision to Leave" (2022). The director explained that this was to show different aspects of Yi Sun-sin, but the film trilogy has never highlighted or successfully portrayed Yi Sun-sin's character.**

This film is a farewell to the Yi Sun-sin that Korean audiences have seen over the past 10 years. But the actor playing Yi Sun-sin has changed again, and we have to adjust to a new Yi Sun-sin instead of accepting the end of the series. And by the time we get used to him, he dies.

The same is true for other supporting actors, so rather than being happy to see them, the question "Who is that?" comes to mind first. The death of Junsa, Yi Sun-sin's Japanese subordinate who has been with him on this long journey, is not emotional at all. Junsa was the only character with a story in the series. However, many viewers** **may not even recognize his face in his final moments.**

The Wrong Release Date and Fatigue

It's true that repeatedly showing Yi Sun-sin doesn't necessarily mean box office failure. Yi Sun-sin's popularity has already led to numerous TV series featuring him as the protagonist. But the aggressive marketing for this low-quality film has caused viewers to feel fatigued.

“The Admiral: Roaring Current” released in 2014 received negative reviews from critics, but achieved success thanks to Yi Sun-sin's popularity, theater monopolization, and overwhelming marketing. At the time, the Korean theater industry was in a situation where even Marvel Studio's hit film “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014) could not secure screens.** This kind of success went beyond marketing and became a **“coercion”** for viewers. People who went to the theater with friends on the weekend were deprived of the opportunity to watch a Marvel movie and had to watch "The Admiral: Roaring Current."

The second installment, “Hansan,” was released eight years later and barely recouped its production and marketing costs** with a cumulative audience of 7 million. “Hansan” was an improvement over the previous film, but still not a well-made film. **The characters engage in incomprehensible actions and dialogue throughout the runtime.** Those who felt fatigued by the "coercion" of the first film did not go to the theater, and those who went because they still wanted to see Yi Sun-sin's naval battles realized that it was not a well-made film and left.

A sequel, "Noryang", was released 1 year and 5 months later, with the series' fatigue and disappointment still strong. This film did not improve on its predecessor. Even the action, the series' strength, has regressed. In particular, "Spring in Seoul," also released around the same time, was a tragic work based on historical facts, and its completeness and popularity were high, making Noryang even more ignored.

The production cost of “Noryang: Deadly Sea” was 34.6 billion won (approximately $26 million), and over 7 million tickets must be sold to recoup the investment. It is currently expected to lose over 10 billion won ($7.6 million). Compared to Hollywood, where $100 million is a basic investment in films, this is a small loss, but considering the size of the Korean market, it is a box office disaster.