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| A scene from the film "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw," which topped the weekend local box office / Courtesy of Universal Pictures International |
By Lee Gyu-lee
"Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw," the latest from the Fast & Furious series, has topped the weekend local box office, becoming the fastest installment of the franchise to surpass 2 million ticket sales in Korea.
The film sold over 1 million tickets over the weekend and has been leading the local box office since the film hit theaters on Aug. 14.
This spinoff of the street-racing action franchise also set the record as the biggest opening day sales for the franchise in Korea with 350,000. And the sales almost doubled the next day, coinciding with Korea's National Liberation Day, Thursday.
In response to the record-breaking sales in Korea, the main cast Dwayne Johnson thanked the Korean fans through his social media for "making the film break another franchise record."
Directed by David Leitch, the action film revolves around two rivals, Luke Hobbs (played by Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the main characters of the previous series. The two are forced to team up to fight against a terrorist who attempts to eradicate humanity through a new virus called Snowflake.
Two strong local holdovers ― "The Battle: Roar to Victory" and "Exit" ― followed the Fast & Furious film on the weekend box office chart.
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| Posters for "The Battle: Roar to Victory" and "Exit. Courtesy of Showbox and CJ Entertainment |
The Battle: Roar to Victory has drawn 800,000 ticket sales over the weekend, accumulating the total sales at 3.9 million. Despite the hiccup it had with the accusation of damaging the environment while shooting the film, The Battle is still doing well in the box office, securing the second-highest spot for five consecutive days.
This historical blockbuster, directed by Won Shin-yeon, covers a four-day battle in 1919 between Korean independence militia fighters and Japanese forces in Manchuria. Yu Hae-jin and Ryoo Joon-yeol play the main characters Hwang Hae-cheol and Lee Jang-ha, respectively, who lead the group of independence fighters throughout the battle.
Exit became third on the chart with ticket sales at 770,000 for the weekend. Premiering three weeks ago, the film has accumulated sales at 7.5 million and is still steadily growing with high expectations that it will exceed 10 million.
The film is the third-highest selling Korean film on this year's box office chart so far ― with The Battle: Roar to Victory being fourth.
Directed by Lee Sang-geun, the movie is a comedy blockbuster that follows an adventure of two college alumni Yong-nam ― played by Cho Jung-seok ― and Eui-joo ― played by Yoona. The two encounter a mysterious and hazardous gas and have to use their recreational climbing experience to escape.
