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| The white-collar crime movie "Black Money," left, has topped the local box office for seven consecutive days since its premiere on Nov. 13. Action film "The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful" took the second spot for this week's chart. Courtesy of Acemaker Movie Works and CJ Entertainment |
By Lee Gyu-lee
White-collar crime film "Black Money" conquered the local box office on the day it premiered on Nov. 13 and has since been going strong for a week. The film saw about 1.28 million ticket sales in a week with 10.9 billion won ($9 million) grossing, as of Tuesday.
Directed by Chung Ji-young, who is known for films based on true stories, this film revolves around Prosecutor Yang Min-hyeok (Cho Jin-woong) who gets falsely accused of sexually harassing a key witness in a financial case. As he works to clear his name, he discovers the truth behind the case and the involvement of prominent political figures.
The film is based on the financial scandal that occurred back in the early 2000s, triggered by U.S.-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds' acquisition of the Korean Exchange Bank (KEB). Some government officials were accused of being involved in the scandal, allowing Korea's fifth-largest bank to be sold to the private firm.
After topping the box office for six consecutive days since its release on Nov. 7, gambling action film "The Divine Move 2: The Wrathful" fell to second place in this week's chart. Drawing over a million ticket sales on its opening week, the film has sold 1.93 million tickets as of Tuesday, bringing 16.6 billion won ($14 million) grossing.
The crime action film, directed by Lee Khan, is a sequel to 2014's "The Divine Move" about high-stake games of Go. Gwi-soo (Kwon Sang-woo) is a serious Go player who lost everything on a bet. To seek revenge on people who have wronged him in the past, he throws himself into "life or death" games with the guidance from his coaches Heo Il-do (Kim Sung-kyun) and Ddong (Kim Hee-won).
Feminist film "Kim Ji-young, Born 1982" is still going strong in the charts, taking third place. The film has accumulated 3.54 million ticket sales and grossed 29 billion won ($24.9 million) in just under a month. It hit local theaters on Oct. 23.
Directed by Kim Do-yeong, the adaptation of the 2016 best-selling novel of the same name tells the story of ordinary housewife Ji-young (Jung Yu-mi) struggling to find her identity as she is largely defined by her roles as a daughter, wife, and mother.
The local box office is expected to face as shakedown with a sequel of 2013's mega-hit Disney animation "Frozen 2" which premieres today. Despite concerns on the latest series falling short of the first one's success, the film has sold 880,213 tickets in advance sales, taking up over 89 percent of the total number of movie seat reservations, as of Wednesday.
The sequel picks up from the end of the previous film with Elsa (Idina Menzel) starting to hear mysterious voices in her ear. To find the origin of the voices, she goes on a journey once again with her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), iceman Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and talking snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) to find her true identity.
