Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Sci-fi film 'Seobok' opens, topping local box offices
Sci-fi film “Seobok” hit theaters on Thursday. Courtesy of CJ ENM
By Lee Gyu-lee
By Lee Gyu-lee
The sci-fi action film, “Seobok,” finally premiered after a COVID-induced delay, Thursday topping local box offices.
The film sold over 45,000 tickets on its opening day, netting 405 million won ($362,000) in gross sales, which took up about 60 percent of total ticket sales that day.
Directed by Lee Yong-joo, best known for the hit romance film, “Architecture 101,” the film revolves around ex-intelligence agent Ki-heon (Gong Yoo) and the first-ever human clone Seobok (Park Bo-gum).
Ki-heon, who is suffering from a terminal illness, is given the last mission of his life: to take Seobok to a safe haven. The two form a bond as they embark on a journey through multiple life-threatening attacks from groups trying to take “possession” of Seobok.
The film was originally supposed to hit local theaters in December. However, as virus infection cases surged nationwide, distributor CJ ENM decided to hold off on the premiere, until it came up with a means to simultaneously release the film in theaters and on its streaming service, TVING.
“The Book of Fish,” which topped the box office the day before the opening of “Seobok,” slipped to fourth place. The film only saw about 3,500 ticket sales, grossing about 31 million won. So far, it has had a total of about 281,000 ticket sales, grossing 2.5 billion won.
The black and white period film, which opened March 31, follows the story of an exiled Joseon era scholar, Yak-jeon (Sol Kyung-gu), and a fisherman Chang-dae (Byun Yo-han). The two share their knowledge of the sea with each other when Yak-jeon starts to write a guidebook on marine life for poor people.
As they broaden each other's perspectives, they form an unusual friendship that breaks their social class barrier. The film is helmed by renowned director Lee Joon-ik, who is dubbed the master of period films for directing hits such as “King and the Clown” (2005) and “The Throne” (2015).
Japanese animation, “Demon Slayer,” took the second spot at box offices with 5,000 ticket sales. Since premiering Jan. 27, the film has accumulated 1.7 million ticket sales, grossing 16 billion won ($14.4 million).
The third spot went to Hollywood action thriller “Nobody,” which got a little over 4,000 ticket sales. Since opening April 7, the film has netted 838 million won ($748,000).