 |
| Japanese animated movie "Suzume" surpassed 5 million ticket sales, Friday. Courtesy of Media Castle |
By Lee Gyu-lee
Japanese animated film "Suzume" has set a record at Korea's box office, surpassing 5 million ticket sales on Friday, according to data from the Korean Film Council.
The fantasy adventure animation, which hit local theaters on March 8, became the first film released this year to reach over 5 million ticket sales and the first ever Japanese film to do so. As of Sunday, the film has garnered a total of about 5.06 million sales, grossing 52 billion won ($38.8 million).
Led by director Makoto Shinkai, who garnered popularity with his fantasy animated films, "Your Name" (2016) and "Weathering with You" (2019), the film revolves around a high school girl, Suzume. One day, Suzume encounters a young man on her way to school, which leads her to discover an isolated door leading to a dreamlike universe.
Opening the door out of curiosity, she accidentally lets out an evil creature from the other universe. Joining hands with the mysterious young man, she helps him to prevent disaster from befalling Japan.
 |
| A scene from the Japanese animated movie "Suzume" / Courtesy of Media Castle |
The film's distributor, Media Castle, released a video of the movie's voice actors, celebrating its 5-million sales record.
"I will never forget the huge love the Korean audiences have shown," actress Nanoka Hara, who played the voice of Suzume, said in the video. "I'm extremely happy to hear about the enormous support from Korea every day."
The film became the talk of the town soon after its release as director Shinkai's latest project. It surpassed one million ticket sales in just six days of its premiere, becoming the fastest among films this year to hit the mark.
The animation became the highest-grossing Japanese movie on April 14, beating out the previous record set by the basketball animated film "The First Slam Dunk" after accumulating 4.48 million ticket sales. "The First Slam Dunk," which was released in January, took the title after recording 3.81 million ticket sales as of March.
"Suzume" screened at this year's Berlin Film Festival and has sold over 10 million tickets in Japan, becoming the third-biggest seller at the box office in its country of origin last year.
Director Shinkai is currently visiting Korea for the film's promotion for the second time. During his trip in March upon the film's release, he promised to pay another visit to the country if the movie passes 3 million admissions. He is on tour around Korea, meeting local fans in theaters from Thursday to Sunday.
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
