Avatar Becomes Fastest Selling Foreign Film
By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter
It's a ``blue'' winter in Korea, with ``Avatar'' garnering the largest number of moviegoers ever over a given timeframe among foreign films.
The 3D alien movie swept holiday ticket sales with unstoppable momentum, attracting a total of almost 6.4 million viewers in just 17 days, as of Monday, according to the Korean Film Council. It is the first imported film to achieve such a rate.
During the long weekend over New Year's Day (Jan. 1 to 4), 1.2 million or 42.7 percent of moviegoers saw ``Avatar'' in 725 theaters across the country.
``I think that when you look at James Cameron as a filmmaker, and his history, he's always proven himself,'' said producer Jon Landau when he visited Seoul in October 2009. Cameron and Landau joined hands in the 1990s worldwide hit ``Titanic.''
Michael Bay's extraterrestrial robot franchise ``Transformers 1'' and `` Transformers 2'' stand as the highest grossing foreign flicks in Korean box office history, having each sold some 7.4 million tickets. ``Avatar'' currently ranks third but considering that advance reservations are fully booked until mid-January, the movie is expected to break the record in the near future.
No foreign movie has ever surpassed the 10-million audience mark, which has been met by only a handful of local blockbusters, including ``The Host'' and, recently, ``Haeundae.''
Tailing ``Avatar'' in the current box office is the Korean superhero story ``Woochi,'' which sold 3.25 million tickets since opening 23 days ago. While it is the only local flick in the top 10 sales ranking, ticket sales rate parallel that for the Hollywood blockbuster ``2012.''
``Sherlock Holmes,'' starring Robert Downey Jr. as the uncanny private eye, came in third (363,992 viewers), followed by ``Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'' (190,397) and the star-studded musical movie ``Nine'' (189,566).
The Japanese animation ``Pokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life'' and the fantasy flick ``The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus'' ranked sixth (61,766) and seventh (35,231), respectively.
Jennifer Anniston's newly released romantic comedy took off with a positive start, No. 8, while ``2012'' maintained a solid No. 9 spot. The small documentary film ``Into Great Silence,'' which has been riding positive reviews and being shown on an increasing number of screens, ranked tenth with a total of 28,899 moviegoers as of Monday.
Meanwhile, ``Woochi'' star Kang Dong-won stands in the spotlight; in addition to starring in the superhero movie, which is off to a strong start, the actor has another movie, ``Uihyeongje'' (Blood Brother), co-starring Song Kang-ho, coming to theaters next month.
``Woochi'' is expected to score well in the box office among local films, with only small melodramas such as ``Wedding Dress'' or ``Fair Love'' hitting screens this month. The positivity is to continue with ``No Mercy,'' which opens Thursday with favorable reviews from critics and previewers, and ``Sikgaek: Kimchi Wars'' (working title), the sequel to the hit drama ``Le Grand Chef'' that opens next month.