As COVID-19 cases surge, the release of “The Golden Holiday,” which was scheduled to hit the screens Wednesday, has been delayed until further notice.

The announcement came just two days before the scheduled premiere date, making it the first major film to have its release delayed since June.

“As the social distancing level is raised and concern about infection clusters in our society rises, we decided that the release of a new movie and gathering audiences in theaters could undermine the government’s efforts,” distributor Showbox said in a press release.

“The Golden Holiday” is an action comedy film that features veteran actor Kwak Do-won as a police detective who becomes a murder suspect during a family trip to the Philippines.

Kwak and other cast members appeared on various TV programs, including MBC’s “I Live Alone” and SBS’ “Running Man,” over the weekend to promote the film.

The movie industry raised its eyebrows when the cast decided not to do any media interviews, focusing on radio and TV appearances instead. The distributor’s decision to delay the film’s release came as a surprise as well. Cinemas appeared to be slowly recovering from the pandemic shock with the release of movies such as “Peninsula” and “Deliver Us From Evil.”

“The Golden Holiday” is not the only movie affected by the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

“Deliver Us From Evil” canceled a promotional event scheduled for Monday that was to feature its cast, while the offline press conference for “Space Sweepers,” featuring Song Joong-ki and scheduled for Tuesday, will go online.

The Korean Film Council has suspended plans to distribute an additional round of vouchers for 6,000 won ($5.05) off film tickets in an effort to encourage people to go to the movies.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Korea announced that Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” will be released in South Korea on Aug. 26, with premieres Aug. 22 and 23. This will make Korea the first country to show “Tenet.”

By Lim Jang-won (ljw@heraldcorp.com)