‘Smugglers’ attracts 1.17 mln admissions over weekend

Director Ryoo Seung-wan’s new crime action thriller “Smugglers” has sold over 1 million tickets in its first weekend at local theaters, data showed Monday, signaling the emergence of a box-office smash for this summer.

According to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), “Smugglers” topped the weekend box office by drawing 1.17 million viewers from Friday to Sunday.

The number accounts for 53.9 percent of the total box office sales during the period.

Released on Wednesday, the movie has attracted a cumulative 1.72 million admissions in just five days.

Set in the 1970s in a peaceful seaside village, “Smugglers” revolves around two female divers, played by Kim Hye-soo and Yum Jung-ah, who are unexpectedly tangled up in a high-stakes smuggling scheme.

It was the first of the four highly-anticipated big-budget Korean films to open for the summer box office.

The box office rankings may change when director Kim Yong-hwa’s sci-fi film “The Moon” and director Kim Seong-hoon’s buddy action comedy “Ransomed” open Wednesday.

Disney and Pixar’s animated film “Elemental” ranked second at the box office over the weekend, following “Smugglers.”

The film’s cumulative audience has reached over 5.67 million, adding 360,000 more people over the weekend. It surpassed Japanese director Makoto Shinkai’s latest animated film “Suzume” to become the most-viewed foreign film in South Korea this year.

Coming in third was “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” starring Tom Cruise, seen by 300,000 people during the period. The Hollywood action blockbuster fell two places from the previous week.

In fourth place was the animated film “Detective Conan The Movie: Black Iron Submarine” with 89,000 admissions, followed by “Barbie” starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling with 81,000 viewers.