Seoul cinema chain swaps screens for climbing walls to lure young South Koreans

SEOUL – As cinemas around the world struggle to lure viewers back after the pandemic, one South Korean cinema chain is testing out a new way to draw people away from streaming shows on their couches back to the big screen – by adding bouldering walls. 

The country’s largest multiplex movie chain operator CJ CGV, part of entertainment behemoth CJ Group, started installing climbing walls in 2021 in one of its multiplexes, Jongno Piccadilly, in central Seoul. It demolished two movie screens to make way for the walls, leaving six screens for movies. The Peakers climbing gym opened its doors in January 2022. 

Like theatre operators in other countries, CJ CGV saw attendance plummet during the pandemic, with the company turning unprofitable in 2020. The number of moviegoers in South Korea plunged from 226 million in 2019 to 60 million in 2021, according to the Korean Film Council. 

However, the company noticed at the same time that activities such as bouldering and rock climbing were becoming increasingly popular among young South Koreans, mirroring the trend in other cities around the world. 

“As Covid-19 hit, we needed something to bring people who were staying home back to the movie theatres,” said manager Seo Min-woo, who oversaw the planning behind Peakers. “We found sports was one of the activities that would bring people outside of their homes.”

Though many theatres around the world face the threat of shutting down due to falling attendance figures, giving them a second life can often be difficult because of design elements specific to cinemas, such as high ceilings, slanted floors and subdivided spaces. But it is precisely those features that make them good spaces for climbing gyms. CJ CGV now operates bouldering gyms in three of its Seoul multiplexes, with the most recent one opening in March.

While outdoor climbing was already popular due to the country’s mountainous terrain and easy access to mountains in Seoul, the sport got a further boost after sport climbing made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021, where South Korean athletes Seo Chae-hyun and Chon Jong-won placed in the top 10. 

Mr Son Jung-jun, 57, who has operated an indoor climbing centre since 2000 in Seoul, said he estimates there are about 350 such gyms across the country at the moment.

“And it’s kept growing after Covid-19,” added Mr Son. “Customers want large climbing spaces that are at least about 500 sq m, and rock climbing has been in the media a lot, so I think CGV naturally got interested as it looked for alternatives during Covid-19.”

CJ CGV said that bouldering is its most successful new venture it has embarked on outside of its core theatre business, but it is not yet clear how many climbers it will manage to convert into moviegoers. Its Jongno gym brings in some 250 people a day, which is less than the number of seats that were previously in the cinema. 

Peakers has attracted people such as Mr Kim Jin-suk. The 30-year-old developer, who goes bouldering a couple times a week with his colleagues, said he mostly streams movies at home. However, he has yet to stay for a movie. 

“I thought about doing bouldering after watching a movie but I didn’t have a chance to,” said Mr Kim, who was climbing at a newly opened gym in a CGV multiplex in Shinchon in western Seoul. “To watch movies, I’d have to do less bouldering. I will try to watch at least one movie on a day I go bouldering if there is a movie I’d like to watch.” BLOOMBERG