'Lion King' roars, 'Aladdin' rebounds

This image released by Disney shows characters, from left, Zazu, voiced by John Oliver, and young Simba, voiced by JD McCrary, in a scene from "The Lion King." AP-Yonhap

Disney movies continue to dominate box office

By Lee Gyu-lee

Two live-action remakes of Disney animations ― “The Lion King” and “Aladdin” ― have topped Monday's box office, indicating moviegoers' unwavering fascination with Disney films.

Remaking the long-loved 1994 and 1997 animated films into live action, the two films not only aimed to entertain children but also became a source of reminiscence for adults about their earlier years.

Directed by Jon Favreau, “The Lion King” uses photorealistic computer graphics to make the characters from the musical cartoon look realistically alive. Remakes of original songs by pop diva Beyonce ― playing Nala ― and singer-actor Donald Glover ― playing Simba ― made the movie more colorful.

It has sold about 3.9 million tickets with a total grossing of 35 billion won ($29 million), securing its top spot at the weekend box office for the two consecutive weekends. Worldwide, the film beat the original cartoon's box office gross record of $968 million by $54,830, as of Tuesday. But considering its continuous domination at the box office, it will easily exceed the original one's record.

“Aladdin,” directed by Guy Ritchie, has been nearly invincible at the domestic box office, remaining at a high ranking ever since it hit theaters on May 23. It has not fallen out of the top three on the domestic box office after about nine consecutive weeks.

The film continued to draw moviegoers after it hit the mark of success ― surpassing 10 million ticket sales ― on July 14. It is now ranked 14th in Korean cinema history based on ticket sales with about 12 million tickets sold, resulting in a total gross over 100 billion won ($180 million) as of Monday.

From left, posters for “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” and “The King's Letters,” movies that topped Monday's domestic box office. Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea and Megabox PLUSM

The Korean film "The King's Letters" seemed to put the brakes on the Disney sensations by topping the box office on its premiere day, July 24. The movie whetted moviegoers' appetites much before the release, as it stars Cannes-winning “Parasite” actor Song Kang-ho and was expected to deepen people's knowledge of the creation of Korean “Hangeul” writing system.

However, the long-awaited expectations turned into accusations that it distorted history, shortly after the movie was premiered.

Directed by Jo Chul-hyun, the film presents one of the creation theories that King Sejong invented the alphabet with the help of Buddhist monk Shinmi. Yet, many viewers found it disappointing, saying it put too much emphasis on the monk to the extent that it downplayed the work of King Sejong.

The dispute on whether to view this film as a fictional film or as misrepresentation of the highly respected historic figure is still ongoing. Some sought for the historic evidence or information from the experts for the validity of much-known theory that King Sejong invented the alphabet by himself.

“The creation of Hangeul is the result of the teamwork among the king, scholars and Buddhist monks, rather than a miracle solely from the king,” Jung Kwang, a former Korean language and literature professor at Korea University, said in an interview with a local newspaper.

He pointed out that the greatness of Hangeul comes from King Sejong's care for his people and the “collective intelligence” working on its invention. “If we deny the fact that Hangeul was influenced by Sanskrit ― an ancient Indian language ― or Phags-pa script ― created by Tibetan monks ― we might find ourselves in biased ultra-nationalism.”

The film soon fell to the second spot in the box office after only one day at the top. It is lagging in sales, barely beating the nine-week-long sales of “Aladdin” over the weekend. As of Monday, it has fallen another rank to the third.

The long-lasting Disney sensation is expected to face another heated competition at the box office with two new domestic movies that will hit theaters Wednesday ― “The Divine Fury” and “EXIT.”

The new occult movie “The Divine Fury” is about mixed martial arts champion Yong-hoo, played by Park Seo-joon, and a Vatican priest, played by Ahn Sung-ki, teaming up to fight against evil. The heartthrob Park, who has always taken casual roles, is expected to play a completely different character as the dark and bitter Yong-hoo.

“EXIT” is a disaster comedy film starring Jo Jung-suk and Im Yoon-ah. The two face an unknown toxic gas and work together to escape the disaster. The film is expected to show blockbuster spectacles along with a touch of humor added by the two characters.

Both films have already presold over 130,000 tickets, raising hopes for their success.