00:07Disney has been hit with an antitrust complaint in South Korea over Frozen 2.
00:11A South Korean civic group has filed a complaint with local prosecutors against the Walt Disney
00:16Company, claiming that the new animated movie violated the country's antitrust act by showing
00:21on 88 percent of domestic movie screens. Since its release on November 23, Frozen 2 has earned
00:26$61.2 million in Korea. The sizable haul makes Korea the film's third-largest market worldwide,
00:33trailing only North America with $287.6 million and China with $90.5 million, which is an impressive
00:40feat for a country of just 51 million people.
00:42Magic is very alluring. Without you, she may lose herself to it.
00:47On Sunday, the Public Welfare Committee, an NGO based in Seoul, filed a complaint with South Korea's
00:53central district prosecutor's office, requesting a probe into Walt Disney Korea's suspected
00:58monopoly of the domestic movie market. The organization alleged that Frozen 2 occupied more than
01:0388 percent of Korean screens on its opening day, which violates the country's anti-monopoly law.
01:09The Public Welfare Committee contends that Disney's wide release of the film falls under a clause
01:13that defines any individual or company with over 50 percent of market share as a market-dominant enterprise.
01:19Current Korean law pertaining specifically to movie exhibition states no cap on the share of screens
01:25that one film can occupy, but the recent dominance of imported Disney tentpoles and local blockbusters
01:30by the major Korean studios has sparked fervent industry debate over the issue.
01:35In South Korea, Frozen 2 is on track to surpass the huge success of the original Frozen.
01:40That film earned $76.6 million, the most ever for an animated film in that country.
01:45For more on this story, go to THR.com. Until next time, for The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.
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