▲ Promotional material for 'The Assassins' displayed at a movie theater in Seoul
The film 'The Assassins', which deals with the shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-su, surpassed 2 million cumulative moviegoers on the 3rd, the 11th day since its release, amid ongoing controversy over historical distortion.
The distributor, Hive Media Corp, announced that afternoon that the cumulative audience for 'The Assassins' had exceeded 2 million.
With this, 'The Assassins' became the 9th released work this year to surpass the 2 million mark.
The film is based on the 1974 incident in which Mun Se-gwang, a Korean resident in Japan, attempted to assassinate President Park Chung-hee, during which First Lady Yuk Young-su was shot and killed.
Directed by Hur Jin-ho, who made 'Christmas in August' (1998), the movie depicts the pursuit of the truth behind the incident centered around police officer Chul-goo (played by Yoo Hae-jin), newspaper city desk chief Jae-hwan (Park Hae-il), and rookie reporter Young-il (Lee Min-ho).
Released on September 23, the film drew approximately 1.407 million viewers during the Chuseok holiday period (September 24 – 27) with its suspenseful narrative, beating works like 'Tazza: Beelzebub's Song' and 'Odyssey' to emerge as a box office winner.
However, the film's box office performance has been affected as political circles and others criticized it for distorting actual history, pointing to scenes in the movie that raise the possibility of the Korean Central Intelligence Agency being behind the incident.
Following the controversy, 'The Assassins' lost its top spot at the daily box office to 'Tazza: Beelzebub's Song' on September 28.
Entering this month, it has reclaimed the number one spot and continues to steadily attract audiences.
'The Assassins' has also maintained a high ranking in advance ticket reservation rates.
As of 4 p.m. today, its reservation rate stood at 16.9% (with approximately 84,000 advance tickets sold), placing second behind the animated film 'Chiikawa the Movie: Secret of the Mermaid Island' (25.7%).
Controversy surrounding the film continues to spread.
Protest comments continued to flood YouTube advertisement videos for a fast-food brand and a securities firm featuring Yoo Hae-jin as a model, leading to the closure of their comment sections.
The production company, Hive Media Corp., has canceled movie-related events, including the outdoor stage greeting at the Busan International Film Festival.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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