Dongmakgol: Welcome To The 5 Million Club

Posted by X at 7:21pm.

Posted in Box Office News, Drama, Asia.

It was only a few years ago when a Korean film breaking the 1 Million tickets sold barrier would make the news. Nowadays, selling ‘only’ that much is often considered a failure. And to think one of Im Kwon-Taek’s greatest achievements, the 1993 film ‘서편제’ (’Sopyonje’) ‘only’ sold 1,300,000 tickets, after a 11 months long theater run.

But times change. First it was ‘쉬리’ (’Shiri’) and ‘공동경비구역 JSA’ (’Joint Security Area’), two blockbusters riding the wave of improving North-South Korean relations; then it was time for the 조폭 (Gangster) Invasion, with ‘조폭마누라’ (’My Wife is a Gangster’) and ‘친구’ (’Friend’) making headlines and breaking records. In 2003, the pinnacle of the ‘Well Made Film’ trend was ‘살인의 추억’ (’Memories of Murder’).

Then, 2004 saw the two huge blockbusters ‘태극기 휘날리며’ (’Taegukgi’) and ‘실미도’ (’Silmido’) break the 10 Million tickets sold, and finally the last big box office success was ‘말아톤’ (’Marathon’), starring the man of the moment Jo Seung-Woo.

All those movies might be different in style, genre, and even quality. But they share something in common, they all entered that prestigious ‘5 Million tickets sold’ club. The same club which will introduce its newest member, a magical little film with no bankable stars about fighting together to solve a common problem. This summer’s box office sensation, Park Gwang-Hyun’s ‘웰컴 투 동막골’ (’Welcome To Dongmakgol’) will infact beat the 5,180,000 tickets sold my Marathon by this weekend, becoming not only the top grossing film of the year, but also part of the illustrious ‘5 Million’ club.

The record as of August 25 was of 4,957,490 tickets sold, so the film is expected to reach and beat Marathon’s record by tomorrow or Sunday at worst.

Via Yonhapnews