Cannes-winning 'Parasite' tops 9 mln admissions in S. Korea

"Parasite," the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has surpassed 9 million in ticket sales and is running toward the 10 million milestone. Courtesy of CJ Entertainment

"Parasite," the winner of the Palme d'Or at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has surpassed 9 million in ticket sales and is running toward the 10 million milestone, data showed Sunday.

The comedy-thriller film by Bong Joon-ho drew 9,000,284 moviegoers as of Sunday morning, 25 days after its official release on local screens, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

The film surpassed the 5 million threshold on its eighth day on the screen before hitting the 8 million mark on the 17th day.

Currently, "Parasite" is ranked fourth at the box office and is running toward the milestone of 10 million admissions, a rare commercial hit for Korean films recognized at prominent international film festivals.

The film has also set a new Korean cinematic record, having been sold to a record high number of 202 foreign countries.

Having won the top prize at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival a week earlier, "Parasite" has also been invited to three more international film festivals ― the Munich International Film Festival, which begins this month in Germany; the Locarno Film Festival in August in Locarno, Switzerland; and the Lumiere Film Festival in October in Lyon, France.

The film, a crossover between a comedy and thriller, deals with the striking economic class division between two families in a dark but hilarious manner. (Yonhap)