'Battle of Jangsari' picks up top spot on local box office

This combined photo shows posters for "Battle of Jangsari," left, and “Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture.” Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea, Merrychristmas

By Lee Gyu-lee

Warner Bros. Korea's "Battle of Jangsari" is dominating the local box office since it kicked off on top of the chart on its opening day, Sept. 25. It has accumulated 823,803 ticket sales worth 6.5 billion won ($5.4 million).

The war action film, directed by Kwak Kyung-taek and Kim Tae-hoon, brings unsung heroes of the 1950-53 Korean War into the limelight. It focuses on a group of 772 South Korea student soldiers on a secret mission to fight North Korean forces in Jangsari a day before the Battle of Incheon in 1950.

The film starring Megan Fox as a war correspondent and SHINee's Choi Min-ho as a student soldier is set to be released in North America Oct. 4.

Another film premiering the same day, “Quantum Physics: A Nightlife Venture,” started off at third on the chart for its opening week but soon bumped up to second this week, accumulating 484,565 ticket sales.

The movie revolves around nightclub owner Lee Chan-woo (Park Hae-soo) and his associate Seong Eun-yeong (Seo Ye-ji) who fight against big-name figures involved in a drug scandal. The story of top celebrities' drug party and top figures involved in the scandal drew 3.9 billion won ($3.3 million) grossing as of Wednesday.

The action-packed film “The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos” dropped to third after dominating the local box office for three weeks since it hit theaters on Sept. 11. The blockbuster saw 4.5 million ticket sales, grossing 39 billion won ($32.5 million).

Directed by Son Yong-ho, the film is about a special investigation unit made up of criminals to fight the high profile prisoners and the organization behind them.

Rather slow ticket sales in the box office are about to face a turnover with Venice award-winning film “Joker,” premiering on Wednesday in Korea.

Written and directed by Todd Phillips, the film covers how DC Comics villain Joker came to be the notorious criminal mastermind. Failed stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) develops a deep hatred for society after being pushed around, ultimately lashing out violently.

The psychological thriller, showing a different side of the Joker, has long been anticipated by moviegoers worldwide and is highly expected to bring another success to Warner Bros. DC cinematic universe. The film has already sold 219,371 tickets in pre-sales locally.