Scalpers Resell 'The Odyssey' Tickets in Seoul as New Anti-Scalping Law Won't Cover Movies
At CGV Yongsan, tickets for the Imax release are reselling for up to $69 against a face value of 17,000 to 21,000 won, even as Korea's incoming scalping ban takes aim at concerts and sports instead.
Clara Yun ·
published
· version 2
What this means for travelers
Travelers planning to see 'The Odyssey' at CGV Yongsan may encounter tickets being resold above face value, with some sellers holding more than 10 tickets per screening. Korea's new anti-scalping law, effective Aug. 28, applies to concerts and sporting events and does not cover movie tickets, so this resale activity is not addressed by the incoming ban.
Scalping at CGV Yongsan
"The Odyssey" ranks second in presale with a 30.5 percent presale share.
Tickets are being resold for 50,000 won to 100,000 won ($35 to $69), compared with a face value of 17,000 to 21,000 won.
Some sellers are offering upwards of 10 tickets per screening.
The film is the first feature shot entirely with Imax cameras.
CGV Yongsan is the only theater in Korea that displays the film's full 1.43:1 Imax frame without cropping, and its screen is the largest in Asia and third-largest of its kind in the world.
Korea has no Imax 70mm theater.
Imax has 41 theaters worldwide showing the film, 25 of them in the US, where resale prices have reached as much as $1,000.
New Anti-Scalping Law Excludes Movie Tickets
A law banning scalping at concerts and sporting events takes effect Aug. 28, carrying fines of up to 50 times the ticket price.
The law does not cover movie tickets.
The Ministry backed the goal of rooting out scalping but recommended limiting any ban to online sales, which existing laws do not cover.
Past Incidents
Resale prices for a previous release reached 110,000 won, about five times the regular price.
Similar scalping was reported around the releases of "Avatar: The Way of Water" (2022) and "Dune: Part Two" (2024).
Corrections and updates
— Rewritten before publication to keep current prices separate from a past resale incident and remove unsupported trend language.
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