by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Over the Liberation Day weekend, Assassination became South Korea’s top film of 2015, garnering a total of 10.79 million admissions, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Starring Jun Ji-hyun, Lee Jung-jae and Oh Dal-soo, Assassination follows a group of Korean resistance activists who plan to assassinate a Japanese army commander in a Japanese-occupied Korea. The resistance must extricate its members from prison, thwart a hit-man and find the traitor among them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1It_7oTC2Y
The colonial espionage film reached No. 7 at the international box office and earned a cumulative gross total of $71 million. At the Korean box office, the homegrown film also edged out Hollywood blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron, which had been this year’s most watched film with 10.5 million admissions. In financial terms, however, the Avengers sequel still tops the Korean box office with a total gross of $75 million.
Overall, Assassination is now the 13th highest grossing film of all time at the Korean box office. This is director Choi Dong-hoon’s second film to cross 10 million admissions after his 2012 heist comedy The Thieves.
Assassination is currently screening in select theaters across the U.S. through distributor Well Go USA.
Meanwhile, Korean detective flick Veteran has reached No. 3 at the international box office this past weekend. The actioner has already topped the Korean box office for the second consecutive week, amassing a total gross of about $46.1 million. Directed by Ryu Seung-wan, Veteran follows a detective pursuing an elusive, young millionaire in a high-profile case.
See Also
Q&A with Claudia Kim of ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’
KoreAm July 2011 Feature: Jun Ji-hyun
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Featured image courtesy of the Korean Film Biz Zone
