The movie ‘Salmokji’ (directed by Lee Sang-min) is charging toward the record set by ‘Gonjiam’.
According to the Korean Film Council’s integrated ticket network, ‘Salmokji’ surpassed 2.6 million cumulative viewers as of May 3.
‘Salmokji’ is a horror film where a filming team heads to a reservoir after a mysterious figure is captured on road view, only to face something terrifying in the deep, dark water. With this milestone, it has overtaken the 2002 horror classic ‘Phone’ (estimated 2.6 million viewers) to rank 3rd among the highest-grossing horror films in Korea. Now, it is highly likely to overtake ‘Gonjiam’ (2.68 million viewers), which currently holds the 2nd place spot.
It has already smashed its break-even point. After hitting 2.4 million viewers (three times its 800,000 break-even point), it surged past 2.6 million in just one day, writing a historic record at a rapid pace. By breaking the formula that horror movies only succeed in the summer and gaining word-of-mouth as an “experiential horror,” fans are eager to see how many more viewers it will attract.
Furthermore, ‘Salmokji’ continues to maintain a high seat occupancy rate over the weekend and during the May holidays, holding its ground as a box office powerhouse even against blockbusters like ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ and ‘Super Mario Galaxy’.
Having surpassed 2.6 million viewers and claiming 3rd place in the all-time domestic horror box office, ‘Salmokji’ is now playing in theaters nationwide.
