The film scored the second highest opening this year

​12.12: The Day (Image: Plus M) 

Korean drama 12.12: The Day has taken a strong $11.2m on its opening weekend in South Korea, delivering a shot of optimism to the local box office in the wake of a challenging year.

The film, distributed by Plus M Entertainment, comfortably claimed the number one slot and has taken $14.1m since its release on November 22. It has recorded nearly 1.9 million admissions to date and accounted for 80% of all tickets sold across its opening period.

Based on events that took place in the chaotic time after dictator Park Chung-hee was assassinated in December 1979, the political drama is directed by Kim Sung-soo, known for Asura: The City Of Madness. It stars Hwang Jung-min (The Spy Gone North) as the leader of a coup d’etat and Jung Woo-sung (Hunt) as an officer who fights to stop him. The cast also includes Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon and Kim Sung-kyun.

12.12: The Day scored the second highest opening in South Korea this year after action film The Roundup: No Way Out, which amassed $80.3m from nearly 10.7 million admissions, and is anticipated to top 2 million admissions today (November 27). 

The takings took the weekend box office over $10m for only the second time since the summer.

US feature Five Nights At Freddy’s took second place with $1.2m for a cume of $4.2m, followed by Japanese animation The Boy And The Heron with $257,000 over the weekend for a cum of $14.6m since its release on October 25.

US animation Arctic Justice took $237,000 over the weekend for a cume of $298,000 since its opening on November 23 while The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes took $132,021 for a cume of $1.27m after 12 days on release.

By Michael Rosser

Link: https://www.screendaily.com/news/korea-box-office-boosted-by-political-drama-1212-the-day/5188208.article