‘The Thieves’ outperforms ‘Haeundae’ to become fourth best-selling movie at home

The Korean heist film “The Thieves” became the fourth best-selling Korean film of all time, beating “Haeundae,” a disaster drama that opened three years ago, according to the latest official box office tally.

“The Thieves,” featuring 10 Korean and Chinese thieves teaming up to steal a valuable diamond necklace at a Macao casino, had attracted about 11.5 million viewers as of Wednesday, the data from the Korean Film Council showed.

The movie passed the 11.4 million audience record for “Haeundae,” pushing it down to the fifth spot on the list of the top 10 homegrown films that have hit the local box office.

Industry watchers say, if the current pace of ticket sales continues, “The Thieves” will soon likely overtake the third most-watched Korean film, “Taegukgi” (2003), which attracted more than 11.7 million viewers.

“The Host,” a 2006 action-packed thriller by director Bong Jun-ho, drew the most viewers at 13 million. The No. 2 film is “The King and the Clown” with 12 million.

Directed by Choe Dong-hoon, who is known for “Tazza: the High Rollers” and “The Big Swindle,” and starring top actors and actresses Jun Ji-hyun, Kim Hye-soo, Kim Yun-seok and Lee Jung-jae, “The Thieves” opened on July 25 and is now being shown on 552 cinema screens across the country.

Meanwhile, the movie will be released throughout Asia in the coming months, according to its distributor.

The film will be shown in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore next month and open up in theaters in Malaysia, Thailand and other Asian countries in October and November, Mediaplex Co. said on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)


<관련 한글 기사>


'도둑들' 1천148만 동원 '해운대' 넘었다


영화 ‘도둑들’이 3년 전 ‘해운대’의 기록을 넘어 역대 한국영화 흥행순위 4위로 올라섰다.

23일 영화진흥위원회 영화관입장권 통합전산망에 따르면 ‘도둑들’은 전날 10만 6천809명을 동원해 누적관객수 1천148만 1천592명을 기록했다.

이전까지 한국영화 역대 흥행 순위 4위였던 ‘해운대’(1천145만3천338명)를 뛰어넘은 기록이다.

‘도둑들’은 개봉 22일 만에 1천만 관객, 26일 만에 1천100만 관객을 돌파해 한국영화 역대 흥행 1위인 ‘괴물’(1천302만 명)과 비슷한 흥행 속도를 보이고 있다.

‘괴물’은 개봉 25일 만에 1천100만 관객을 돌파했다.

‘도둑들’이 ‘괴물’의 기록에 도달하기 위해 넘어야 할 산으로는 ‘태극기 휘날리며’(1천174만 명)와 ‘왕의 남자’(1천230만 명)가 남아있다.

한편, ‘도둑들’은 홍콩을 비롯한 인도네시아, 싱가포르 등에서 개봉을 앞두고 있어 해외 흥행도 기대되고 있다.