Despite his award-winning stance among the cream of contemporary South Korean actors, Song Joong Ki has unfortunately suffered a bad patch of movie projects. Returning to the K-drama scene with a cameo in Queen of Tears in 2024 after a two-year gap since his titular role in Reborn Rich (2022), the highly-sought after K-drama lead pick generated more buzz with his mere minutes-long special appearance in the record-shaming tvN drama than he appears to have commercially accomplished with last two theatrical releases, Hopeless / Hwaran (2023) and Bogota: City of the Lost (2024). The latter project hit Korean theatres on New Year’s Eve.
Song Joong Ki’s consecutive Korean box office failures
Cut to a week later, the Korean Film Council’s database update on January 7, 2025, indicated that Song’s December 31 premiere had only hit a cumulative audience mark of 336,348 viewers so far. The report further probed into the Vincenzo star’s consecutive box office failures, noting that despite Bogota coming out in theatres just days ago, the Kim Seong Je directorial had already fallen behind Hyun Bin-starrer Harbin and Firefighters starring Joo Won, Lee Joon Hyuk and others. The former was released exactly a week before Bogota’s cinematic premiere, whereas the latter started playing almost a month ago attached to a December 4 theatrical release.
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Although Bogota’s box office audience numbers seemed to have trumped Joong Ki’s previous underperforming film Hopeless, the gap is almost negligible. Directed by Kim Chang Hoon, the movie released in 2023 drew only 260,000 viewers.
In December 2024, the “baby-faced” actor was also panned for his acting in My Name is Loh Kiwan at the annual 8th Raspberry Film Festival / Sanddalki Awards. Ranking 4th in the ‘Worst Acting’ category, leading journalists disapproved of his “inconsistent acting” and Yanbian accent in the Netflix film.
Fan debate over Song Joong Ki ‘losing his touch’ ensues
Song Joong Ki’s consecutive theatrical flops eventually launched the movies vs. K-dramas debate online. While some wondered if the setbacks were due to the actor fumbling his career choices, others directed their criticism at “mediocre movies” that have failed to satisfy the audiences’ “higher standards.”
The issue trended as a hot topic on the South Korean online community platform TheQoo.net as more and more comments about the Bogota star’s acting choices trickled in.
According to AllKpop’s English translation of some comments found on the page, a K-drama enthusiast confessed that they were no longer intrigued by Song’s movies and harboured no profound interest in watching them. Others chimed in, saying “I’d rather see him in a drama” and “His dramas feel like a guaranteed hit, but I’m not drawn to his movies at all.” Another user argued, “People in Korea have higher standards now – it’s no longer an era where people watch movies just because a certain actor is in it.” Meanwhile, another critic outrightly bashed Joong Ki’s latest film: “Bogota looks super boring.” On the contrary, a user suggested that his last few cinematic failures were only a temporary setback: “It’s possible he’ll have another hit eventually, and even if he doesn’t, it’s not a huge deal.”
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Vincenzo actor’s next big hit awaited with upcoming 2025 K-drama comeback
On a different side to the conversation, someone else came to the actor’s rescue, praising his performance in Vincenzo (2021) but objectively critiquing his professional decisions. They wrote, “People say he’s not good at genre roles, but considering how well he did in Vincenzo, it seems like he just needs to choose his projects more carefully. These days, people don’t pick movies just based on the actor anymore.”
To his fan’s relief, production company HighZium Studio confirmed in August 2024 that Song Joong Ki was gearing up for his highly anticipated K-drama comeback with ‘My Youth’ (working title). The romance drama will see the Descendants of the Sun actor play a novelist and florist named Sunwoo Hae opposite Chun Woo Hee’s Sung Je Yeon. Prior to starting a new chapter and leaving his chaotic life behind, Sunwoo was once a child actor who lost his spark due to adults’ malice, rendering him a living ghost in public.
Fans are holding on for dear life, with all hopes tied to Song Joong Ki’s upcoming drama. Slated to premiere sometime this year, the forthcoming project already has a creative time behind it. Their filmography boasts credits attached to hit dramas as writer Park Si Hyun was responsible for the heartwarming script of JTBC drama Run On, starring Yim Siwan and Shin Se Kyung. The HighZium Studio production will be helmed by director Lee Sang Yeob, who formerly sat in the director’s seat for the two-season saga of Kim Go Eun, Park Jin Young and Ahn Bo Hyun’s Yumi’s Cells (2021-22), Seo In Guk and Nam Ji Hyun’s Shopping King Louie (2016), and Ji Sung and Han Ji Min’s Familiar Wife (2018).