It might have seemed like Kingsman: The Secret Service, Matthew Vaughn’s extremely British spy adventure, would be a difficult film to market overseas but its 007-aping antics have gone down a storm with international audiences, with a $296m worldwide gross so far.
The biggest territory outside of the US? South Korea obviously, where it’s outgrossed all Bond and Bourne movies. The film’s surprise success in the country has led to an increase in sales of formal menswear.
In February alone, the AK Plaza department store franchise saw a 64% rise in double-breasted suits, similar to those worn by Colin Firth onscreen. Online store AK Mall also reported a 38% rise in “formal dressy attire”, according to Korean news site The Chosun Ilbo.
The film’s shock numbers in South Korea, where it’s now the most successful 18-rated film in history, have made for a fascinating case study. The film arrived at a time when there was a widespread dissatisfaction with politicians and those in power, leading to an interesting marketing tactic.
“There were many cases of the rich abusing the weak and poor,” said Tom Oh, who works for Fox in Korea.“We decided to take advantage of this and made three videos similar to the real-life incidents to promote the film.” These videos then went viral and the class struggle in reality was smartly linked to the plot of the film, leading to record numbers.
“While class struggles are prevalent in all countries, the national dissatisfaction combined with a hip, stylish and fun film about an underdog succeeding made for a perfect film for the audiences to release stress,” Oh said.
Matthew Vaughn has already talked about a sequel, which given the international numbers, is likely to get a green light.
