'Corpse Bride' in Surprise Korean Box Office Triumph
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A Hollywood film has surprised the local film industry by topping the local box office last week for the first time in almost four months. "Corpse Bride", an animation by Tim Burton, garnered 69,410 viewers in Seoul last weekend, leaving local production "The Beast and the Beauty" behind with 67,120, according to film investment company IMPictures. "Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit", another animation, ranked third with 53,780, followed by two other Korean movies -- "Princess Aurora" with 50,270 and "I Love You, Mal-sun" - "Mommy, Dearest" with 41,780.
That the success of a foreign movie should be news at all shows the power of Korean films at home. Their box-office success has been unstoppable since late July, with "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" starting a relay race among Korean movies from "Welcome to Dongmakgol", via "Marrying the Mafia II", "You are my Sunshine" and "Sad Movie" to "The Beast and the Beauty". "Welcome to Dongmakgol" had drawn more than 8 million viewers as of at the end of October during its three months in the theaters.
Importers of Hollywood movies are now so used to the strong performance of Korean movies that they take their success for granted. "It is now common to release Hollywood movies, even blockbusters, so they don't coincide with the release of Korean blockbusters", says Nam Yoon-sook, an executive at Warner Brothers Korea, which distributes "Corpse Bride".
That the success of a foreign movie should be news at all shows the power of Korean films at home. Their box-office success has been unstoppable since late July, with "Sympathy for Lady Vengeance" starting a relay race among Korean movies from "Welcome to Dongmakgol", via "Marrying the Mafia II", "You are my Sunshine" and "Sad Movie" to "The Beast and the Beauty". "Welcome to Dongmakgol" had drawn more than 8 million viewers as of at the end of October during its three months in the theaters.
Importers of Hollywood movies are now so used to the strong performance of Korean movies that they take their success for granted. "It is now common to release Hollywood movies, even blockbusters, so they don't coincide with the release of Korean blockbusters", says Nam Yoon-sook, an executive at Warner Brothers Korea, which distributes "Corpse Bride".
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