Korean historical action drama12.12: The Dayhas grossed $90.5M and sailed past the 12 million admissions mark at the Korean box office over the Christmas holiday period to become the highest grossing film of 2023.
Released on November 22, the film overtookThe Roundup: No Way Outin both admissions and revenue terms on Christmas Day.
It marks the first time in four years since the release of Oscar-winning dramaParasitethat a non franchise local title has crossed 12 million admissions.
12.12: The DayPlus M Entertainment
DisneysElementalis the third highest grossing film of 2023 inKorea, grossing $54M from 7.2 million admissions following its June 2023 release.
Related Stories
‘The King Of Kings’ Surpasses ‘Parasite’ To Become Top-Grossing Korean Film In The U.S.
Netflix’s Minyoung Kim Talks Expanding Asia Budget, Future Of Live Sports And Delivering Zombie Films In Thailand & Indonesia – APAC Showcase
Directed by Kim Sung-soo, whose credits includeAsura: The City Of MadnessandThe Flu, 12.12: The Dayis set against the backdrop of the real-life military coup of 1979, which resulted in an eight-year military junta in South Korea.
The cast includes Hwang Jung-min (The Wailing), Jung Woo-sung (Asura: The City Of Madness) and Lee Sung-min (The Spy Gone North).
Watch on Deadline
Produced by Hive Media Corp, the film is distributed byPlus MEntertainment, which also handled local distribution ofThe Roundup: No Way Out.
The third film in a popular franchise starring Don Lee,The Roundup: No Way Outgrossed $80M and crossed the 10 million admissions mark following its release in May 2023.
Despite the success of these two titles however, last year was a lacklustre one for Korean films, which have struggled to recover box office share following the pandemic.
Halfway through the year, Korean productions accounted for just 34.9% of total box office and 36% of admissions for the January-June 2023 period, a significant drop from pre-pandemic days when local movies usually had a more than 50% market share.
The success of12.12: The Dayhas helped push the market share of Korean films to around 48% by the end of 2023.
12.12: The Dayis still on release but slipped to the number two position at the Korean box office on December 20 following the opening of action dramaNoryang: Deadly Sea, the last installment in a trilogy followingThe Admiral: Roaring Currents(2014) andHansan: Rising Dragon(2022), which sold more than 900,000 tickets over the holidays.
