Scalper boasts of earning millions reselling 'Odyssey' IMAX tickets at Seoul's top screen

A scalper reselling tickets to "Odyssey" at the Yongsan-gu IMAX auditorium has sparked outrage after a post appeared online claiming the person earned more than 10 million won in about a month and a half by bulk-buying tickets through a macro program and reselling them at inflated prices.

The post, titled "Yongsan IMAX 'Odyssey' — settlement from Aug. 1 through today," appeared on an online community forum Tuesday.

"Yongsan IMAX," commonly abbreviated in Korean as "Yongamek," refers to the IMAX auditorium at Yongsan I'Park Mall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

The post included a detailed breakdown of ticket purchases through CGV and other channels, sales on secondhand trading platforms, and private transactions. It listed total sales of about 27.42 million won and a net profit of 14 million won over the period.

The author wrote, "This is just a settlement of my transaction history — believe it or not, that's up to you," adding, "I think I have the No. 1 macro performance. I've barely seen anyone who's done more than me. I think this is about the maximum anyone can do."

The post spread rapidly across social media before the original was deleted.

Online users reacted with frustration. "Aren't the authorities cracking down?" one commenter wrote. Others noted the difficulty of enforcement: "The only way is to buy a ticket, get the seat information from the scalper, and then report them — there's no other option." Some pointed out that buyers risk punishment if they report a purchase, while others said even reports go nowhere because there are not enough investigators to act on them.

Meanwhile, amid the surge in scalping, CGV recently capped ticket purchases at four per transaction and said it would continue monitoring for abnormal booking activity.

Director Christopher Nolan's "Odyssey" is the first film ever shot entirely on IMAX cameras, and critics say it can only be fully appreciated in an IMAX theater.