‘Omniscient Reader’ tops Hong Kong box office
Poster for "Omniscient Reader" / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment
The fantasy action film “Omniscient Reader,” starring Ahn Hyo-seop and Lee Min-ho, is making a powerful impact overseas, claiming the No. 1 spot at the Hong Kong box office on its opening day.
Released in Hong Kong on July 31, the movie grossed over 3.1 million Hong Kong dollars in its first week, surpassing the performance of “Exhuma.” It marks the highest opening-week revenue for a Korean film in the region since 2021.
Previously released in Taiwan on July 23, “Omniscient Reader” also outpaced the opening scores of “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” and “Exhuma.”
As of Aug. 5, the film holds the No. 2 position on Taiwan’s overall box office chart and ranks No. 1 among Korean films released in the country in 2025.
Based on a popular serialized web novel, the movie follows Kim Dok-ja (played by Ahn Hyo-seop), the sole reader of a long-running web novel, who finds the fictional world becoming reality after the story concludes.
Teaming up with the novel’s protagonist Yoo Jung-hyuk (Lee Min-ho) and other allies, Kim fights to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
Even before its domestic release, the film garnered global attention through pre-sales in 113 countries.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.