Financial drama debuts at top of Korean box office
SEOUL: Local drama ‘Default', which opened on Wednesday, debuted on top of the South Korean box office. The CJ Entertainment release earned US$11.5 million from 1.57 million admissions over its five opening days. Over the Friday-Sunday weekend, it earned US$8.44 million from 1.07 million admissions and accounted for 42% of the total weekend revenues.
Starring some of South Korea's top stars including Kim Hyesoo and Yoo Ah-in, and French actor Vincent Cassel, the film depicts the back story of the IMF negotiations during the financial crisis in South Korea in 1997.
It is directed by Choi Kook-hee, director of 2016 bowling movie 'Split'. 'Default' sold 1.07 million tickets at 1,168 screens from Friday to Sunday, according to data provided by the Korean Film Council on Monday. It generated 41.9 per cent of weekend sales revenue.
Set in 1997, just a week before a wave of bankruptcies that overwhelmed the country and led to IMF intervention, the movie depicts the diverse range of opinions among the leaders and the experts. While the vice minister of finance (played by Cho) sees the bailout as an opportunity to restructure the entire country, others, like Sihyeon (Kim), a senior analyst at the Bank of Korea, warns government officials of the consequences of the bailout.
The movie also tells the story of a banker-turned investment consultant (Yoo), as well as that of an owner of a small factory (Huh Joon-ho) who falls into a massive debt. Vincent Cassel appears as the IMF's managing director.
Fox's ‘Bohemian Rhapsody' slipped to second place, earning US$6.53 million between Friday and Sunday for a total of US$47.5 million after five weekends. The biographical film accounted for 32% of the weekend box office.
Showbox's ‘Unstoppable' also slipped to third from the previous weekend's second. The crime actioner earned US$1.74 million for a total of US$11.0 million after two weekends.
Wednesday opener, ‘Robin Hood' debuted in fourth. It earned US$1.6 million over opening five days.
Lotte Cultureworks' ‘Intimate Strangers' and Warner Bros.' ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald' took fifth and sixth places, respectively. Local comedy ‘Strangers' earned US$828,000 between for a fiveweekend total of US$38.8 million. Incurring a sharp week-onweek drop of 76%, ‘Fantastic Beasts' earned US$682,000 over the weekend to extend its total to US$18.4 million after three weekends.