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(CJ ENM) |
South Korean film "Parasite" soared to No. 4 at the North American box office after its Oscar victories, data has shown.
According to Box Office Mojo, a box office revenue tracker, the black comedy was the fourth most sold title as of Monday (US time), sharply up from its 12th rank a day earlier.
The box office ascent came one day after "Parasite" picked up four awards, including best picture, at the 92nd Academy Awards held in Los Angeles on Sunday.
The Korean film became the first ever in the Academy's 92-year-old history to win both best international feature film and best picture, also bagging the Oscars for best director and best original screenplay.
Mojo said that on Monday alone, "Parasite" earned $501,222 in box office revenue, up 15.6 percent from what it earned on Sunday and 213.3 percent higher than a week earlier.
"Birds of Prey" was running atop the box office chart on Monday, followed by "1917" and then by "Bad Boys for Life."
Released in North America in October, "Parasite", which also won the Cannes Film Festival's top honor, the Palme d'Or, last year, had fallen short of becoming one of the 10 most watched titles in North America.
The movie, however, began to gain ground as the possibility of the its Oscar winnings created a buzz.
So far, the film's accumulated revenue in North America is reported to be $36 million, and the number is likely to go up further to reach $50 million, with the film's North American distributor, Neon, moving to expand its showings to some 2,000 screens by the weekend from some 1,060 screens currently.
The film was screened in the summer of last year in its home country. But big cinema chains, including CGV, began or are planning to bring the movie back to the screen following the Oscar winnings.
After CGV began its rerun of "Parasite" on local screens on Monday, the movie came to box office No. 5 as of Tuesday.
A new rearranged black-and-white version of "Parasite" is also set to debut on local screens on Feb. 26 as the local cinema industry celebrates its first Oscar victories. (Yonhap)
