Movie featuring EXO’s Chanyeol scores high in China

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) — A movie featuring two South Korean idols from S.M. Entertainment has taken off in China, earning 4.8 billion won (US$4.18 million) in ticket sales since its opening, the agency said Friday.

Chanyeol and Seohyun, singers from popular idol group EXO and Girls’ Generation, respectively, star in the South Korea-Chinese film co-production “So I Married an Anti-fan.”

A poster promoting the movie “So I Married an Anti-fan” (Yonhap)

The film opened across China on Thursday and has since earned 28.3 million yuan, which is 4.8 billion won (US$4.18 million) in Korean currency, in ticket sales as of 1:30 p.m. Friday, according to the China Box Office that provides the country’s official box office data.

It marked Chanyeol’s first lead role since he began acting and also his first appearance in a Chinese movie.

The romantic comedy, based on a Korean online novel of the same name by novelist Kim Eun-jung, revolves around episodes arising from the reality show where a celebrity Hujun (Chanyeol) and his anti-fan, reporter Myomyo (Mabel Yuan), appear together. The novel has also been published in many countries including China, Indonesia and Thailand.

The two Korean singers sang the film’s theme song “I Hate You.”

Seohyun plays Irin, Hujin’s first love, making her debut in a Chinese movie.

Chanyeol visited two cities in China for the film’s promotion: Beijing on Monday and Shenzhen on Tuesday.