Lion King arrives, but with a strong roar?

A scene of Lion King

'Blockbuster' may see lackluster sales due to its 'family' musical status

The Lion King, which is considered the most successful musical of the past two decades, started its run on October 28 in Seoul. Does this "blockbuster musical'' deserve this reputation in the local market?

The rate of seat occupancy at the Seoul run of Walt Disney's musical adaptation of "The Lion King'' so far stands at about 83 percent, with a total of about 70,000 tickets sold. Considering that average seat occupancy rate of local musicals is about 60-70 percent, and scores of musicals are currently competing, The Lion King certainly surpasses its rivals in sales.

Many observers think it strange that tickets have not sold out, however. In other countries such as the United States and Japan, no tickets were available shortly after they went on sale. In Japan, up to 60,000 tickets were sold on the first day of sale, but in Korea, about 70,000 persons total in a month viewed the musical.

In comparison, the average seat occupancy rate of The Phantom of Opera was 95 percent during its seven-month run in 2001 and four-month revival in 2005. About 240,000 persons in 2001 and 195,000 persons in 2005 enjoyed The Phantom of Opera. In the case of Mamma Mia, the seat occupancy rate was 85 percent in 2004 and 97 percent in 2006.

It may be rash to conclude that The Lion King is a failure in Korea, but most people think that it does not deserve its blockbuster reputation.

According to some sources, The Lion King's worse-than-expected performance is due to Korean musical viewers' culture. In Korea, most musicalgoers are couples, so family musicals like "The Lion King'' cannot penetrate the local market. According to Won Jong-won, a musical critic, The Lion King is the first family musical introduced in the local market. "It hasn't been as successful as was expected, but we can say that it has achieved success in its own way,'' said Won.

"The Lion King'' cost 21.5 billion won to produce, and to break even, the seat occupancy rate should be above 80 percent for more than four months. In March next year, another family musical, a Canadian troupe's production of Cirque Du Soleil's "Quidam,'' will come to the Korean stage. Whether or not The Lion King succeeds here will be a litmus test for how the next family musical will fare.

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