‘Harbin’ tops box office in first weekend, surpasses 2 mln admissions

The Korean historical drama “Harbin” has claimed the top spot at the box office during its opening weekend, drawing more than 2 million moviegoers.

The film attracted an additional 903,000 viewers from Friday to Sunday, bringing its cumulative total to 2.39 million admissions, according to data from the Korean Film Council on Monday.

Set in 1909, “Harbin” tells the story of a group of Korean independence fighters, led by Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910), as they plot to assassinate Ito Hirobumi, Japan’s first prime minister and resident-general of Korea, at Harbin Station in northern China. Korea was under brutal Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945.

Directed by Woo Min-ho, the flick was released on Christmas Eve. Actor Hyun Bin stars as Ahn, supported by an ensemble cast, including Park Jung-min, Jeon Yeo-been, Jo Woo-jin, Yoo Jae-myung, Park Hoon and Lee Dong-wook.

In second place was director Kwak Kyung-taek’s latest film, “Firefighters.”

The disaster drama garnered 233,000 admissions over the weekend, raising its total to 3.21 million — the highest admission count for a Korean film released this year.

Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” a prequel to “The Lion King,” secured third place with 120,000 viewers. “Moana 2,” the sequel about the seafaring adventures of a courageous young Polynesian girl, took fourth place with 99,000 admissions.