'Minari' becomes 3rd movie to top 1m admissions in S. Korea this year

The immigrant film "Minari" has become the third movie to attract over 1 million viewers in South Korea this year, enjoying a post-award season bump on supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung's historic Oscar victory, data showed Monday.

The US drama film about a first-generation Korean American family struggling to build a new life in rural Arkansas sold more than 23,900 tickets Saturday, bringing its combined total to over 1 million, according to the data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

It achieved the milestone nearly 60 days after its release on March 3.

Among movies released this year, only two -- Disney-Pixar's "Soul" and the Japanese animated film "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train" -- breached the 1 million mark before "Minari."

The semi-autobiographical film by Korean American writer-director Lee Isaac Chung got a boost here after veteran actress Youn Yuh-jung won the country's first-ever acting Oscar with her supporting role as the untraditional grandmother in the movie at the 93rd Academy Awards last Monday (Korean time).

Meanwhile, the KOFIC data showed that "Waiting for Rain," a newly released homegrown romance film, topped the box office over the weekend, garnering over 122,000 viewers.

"The Courier," a historical spy film, came in next with 88,000 moviegoers, followed by the thriller "Recalled" with 55,000.

"Minari" placed fifth with 52,000 tickets sold, raising the total number of box-office attendees to 1.02 million. (Yonhap)