13 Million Views and Counting… Flopped in Theaters but Now Dominating Global Netflix!

Movie 'Bogotá: City of the Lost', which struggled at the Korean box office with only 420,000 admissions—far below its 3 million break-even point—has found new life on Netflix, drawing 13 million views in its first week. The film has now soared to No.1 in Netflix’s non-English movie category and No.2 globally.

According to distributor Plus M Entertainment, director Kim Seong-je’s 'Bogotá: City of the Lost' topped the non-English Netflix film charts from February 3 to 9, securing No.1 in 10 countries, including South Korea and Colombia, where the story takes place. It also landed in the Top 10 across 73 countries, marking an impressive turnaround.

Set in 1997, 'Bogotá: City of the Lost' follows a young boy, Guk-hee (played by Song Joong-ki), who moves to Bogotá, Colombia, in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis. There, he gets entangled with Su-young (Lee Hee-jun), a powerful figure in the local Korean community, and Sergeant Park (Kwon Hae-hyo). With a 125 billion KRW production budget, the film was expected to attract at least 3 million moviegoers to break even. However, after its December 31 theatrical release, it failed to gain traction against competitors like Harbin and Firefighter, ultimately closing at just 420,000 admissions.

Despite debuting at No.2 in its opening weekend, the movie quickly lost momentum, dropping to No.8 in its second week and falling out of the Top 10 entirely by its third week. Many moviegoers criticized the film for its disjointed storytelling, with some saying the plot felt all over the place as Guk-hee suddenly became a big shot and trust issues emerged out of nowhere. Others found the characters too flat to stay invested, while some noted that although the film started strong, it gradually lost steam. Many also felt that 'Bogotá: City of the Lost' tried to do too much, ultimately becoming a film that was neither here nor there.

Following its box office struggles, Song Joong-ki even teared up while speaking at a Q&A session at Megabox Seongsu last month. “I get emotional just talking about it,” he admitted. “The Korean film industry is going through a tough time right now. Honestly, just getting a movie into theaters feels like a blessing. That’s why I worked harder than ever on promotions.”

But the film’s Netflix debut on February 4 changed everything. With its unique setting and Song Joong-ki’s global star power, 'Bogotá: City of the Lost' has found a second life, captivating audiences worldwide.