Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
'Tucker & Dale' Korean remake breaks even with 1.1 mil. viewers
Actors Lee Sung-min, left, and Lee Hee-jun are seen in a scene from comedy horror film “Handsome Guys.” Courtesy of NEW
By Baek Byung-yeul
"Handsome Guys," a Korean remake version of the 2010 American black comedy horror flick "Tucker & Dale vs. Evil," has surpassed its break-even point by attracting over 1.1 million viewers, according to data by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), Friday.
This poster for film “Handsome Guys” shows actors Lee Sung-min, left, and Lee Hee-jun. Courtesy of NEW
As of Thursday, the comedy horror film has exceeded 1.1 million viewers. Produced with a budget of 4.6 billion won ($3.3 million), this medium-budget film has achieved encouraging results, especially considering that the average total production cost for Korean commercial films exceeded 12 billion won as of 2022.
The film tells the story of two main characters, Jae-phil (Lee Sung-min) and Sang-gu (Lee Hee-jun), who experience strange occurrences at their newly acquired countryside house.
"Handsome Guys," praised for its well-balanced mix of comedy, occult and horror elements and the film is also recognized as a successful remake that has incorporated elements to make the 2010 U.S. film more accessible to Korean audiences.
Normally, a movie that is expected to be a hit needs to have more than 1,000 screens nationwide, but this movie never had more than 1,000 screens and became a hit because of word of mouth from people who saw the movie.
With this achievement, "Handsome Guys" has joined the ranks of other domestic films released this year that surpassed their break-even points, alongside works such as "Exhuma," "Picnic" and "The Roundup: Punishment."
"Exhuma" needed to garner 3.3 million viewers to reach the break-even point but ultimately attracted 11.91 million viewers, achieving great success. "The Roundup: Punishment" also exceeded its break-even point of 3.5 million, drawing 11.49 million viewers and marking another significant success, following in the footsteps of its three predecessors.