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S. Korea sees first ’10 million ticket sales’ film of the year with ‘Ode to My Father’

January 13, 2015
Moviegoers purchase tickets to see "Ode To My Father" in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Moviegoers purchase tickets to see “Ode To My Father” in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Just 14 days into the new year, South Korea already has a film — “Ode to My Father,” directed by Yoon Je-gyun — that’s sold more than 10 million tickets, its fast-growing standard of box office success.

The film was released Dec. 17 and has recorded 16.7 million ticket sales as of Tuesday, according to the Korean Film Council Wednesday in Korea.

“Ode to My Father” is the 11th domestic film and 14th overall to draw more than 10 million moviegoers to theaters in the country’s history, Yonhap reported.

Starring big-name actor Hwang Jung-min in the leading role, the pic paints a picture of South Korea from the war-ridden 1950s to the present through the eyes of a man’s life.

Yoon is now the only South Korean director with two “10 million tickets” films under his name, the first being “Haeundae” in 2009.

Since 2012, the South Korean film industry has seen its domestic ticket sales surpass 100 million yearly, a feat for a nation of a population of 50 million.