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[HanCinema's News] "Parasite" Compared to Other South Korean Films That Premiered at Cannes

Over the weekend "Parasite" passed the nine and a half million viewer mark and looks poised to break the ten million benchmark soon. While much of "Parasite"'s success is attributed to the Cannes Film Festival, these domestic numbers are unprecedented compared to previous South Korean films that competed there.

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The closest to match "Parasite"' was "The Handmaiden" in 2016 with 4,288,869 admissions. "Oldboy" in 2003 follows with 3,269,000 admissions. That figure is an estimate, as it is based on data from before KOFIC's current, more accurate system of keeping track of box office totals. "The Housemaid - 2010" had 2,267,579 admissions and it is only with "Thirst" from 2009 that the next four highest performing films put together exceed "Parasite"'s performance.

"Parasite" has even exceeded the box office total of director Bong Joon-ho's previous film, the more deliberately blockbuster oriented "Snowpiercer" which had 9,351,212 admissions. However, "Parasite" is unlikely to beat director Bong Joon-ho's all-time best performing movie, "The Host" with 10,917,400 admissions.

- Written by William Schwartz

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"Parasite" is directed by Bong Joon-ho, and features Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Wooshik, Park So-dam, Lee Jung-eun. Release date in Korea: 2019/05/30.

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