‘Smugglers’ becomes highest-grossing summer blockbuster with over 5 mln admissions

Director Ryoo Seung-wan’s crime action thriller “Smugglers” has topped 5 million admissions, becoming the highest-grossing blockbuster released this summer, industry data said Wednesday.

“Smugglers” surpassed the milestone on the 36th day since it hit local screens on July 26, according to the data compiled by the Korean Film Council.

It is the fourth movie that has attracted over 5 million moviegoers this year, including Korean action comedy “The Roundup” (10.68 million), Pixar’s animation “Elemental” (7.05 million) and Japanese animation “Suzume” (5.54 million).

Among the four highly-anticipated big-budget Korean films, “Smugglers” posted the best performance, followed by Korean disaster thriller “Concrete Utopia,” which had drawn 3.37 million admissions since its release on Aug. 9.

Two other Korean films released this summer posted relatively lackluster performances.

Director Kim Seong-hoon’s buddy action comedy “Ransomed” and director Kim Yong-hwa’s sci-fi film “The Moon” garnered a cumulative 1.05 million admissions and 510,000 admissions, respectively.

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.

Its intriguing crime plot, dynamic action scenes and good ensemble of veteran actresses received positive reviews from audiences and critics.