A Taxi Driver Speeds Past Battleship Island to Become Top Grossing K-movie of 2017 to Date


There was such a hue and cry over hyped summer K-movie Battleship Island‘s box office returns vis-a-vis how its production company scheduled it in over 80% of the theaters during its opening weekend, but in the end it’s water under the bridge as a quality quietly wins out over a more bombastic rival. After just two weeks in theaters A Taxi Driver has overtaken Battleship Island’s box office receipts, with Battleship premiering a week over A Taxi Driver, and is now the highest grossing K-movie of 2017.

A Taxi Driver now sits at the 26th spot with over 8 million admissions, and right below in the 27th place is an earlier released 2017 movie Confidential Assignment (Cooperation) with 7.8 million admissions. Coming in as the third highest grossing movie of 2017 is Battleship Island currently in the 44th position with 6.5 million admissions. Unlike Battleship (and to some extent Confidential Assignment), A Taxi Driver is getting glowing domestic and overseas reviews for Song Kang Ho‘s incredible performance and the small scale but larger implications of the narrative surrounding coverage of the Gwangju massacre as seen through the eyes of a taxi driver and his foreign correspondent passenger. Continue reading

Attendees at VIP Movie Premiere of Battleship Island Reach Stratospheric Levels of Star Gazing

There may be a new standard in quality and quantity of star attendees to the VIP movie premiere of period war escape movie Battleship Island. I saw one of my faves Yoo Seung Ho trading his ruler period garb for … Continue reading

Additional Bazaar Korea Pictures of the Talented Cast of Battleship Island

The entertainment world, and most of its denizens including fans, love a good positive news story as the unexpected element to consuming the pre-produced offerings of movies and dramas. The wedding announcement of top Korean stars Song Hye Kyo and … Continue reading

The Talented and Mismatched Cast of Battleship Island Featured on Bazaar Korea

A misfit crew isn’t a derogatory observation especially when it comes to underdog tales of escape from oppression. We root for the random comrades to beat the odds and use their uniqueness to complementary advantage. That’s the feeling I get … Continue reading

Song Joong Ki, So Ji Sub, and Hwang Jung Min Bring Star Power to Movie Press Conference for Battleship Island

Other than wanting to send two out of the three male leads home to change, everything looked peachy and swell at the movie press conference for upcoming period war time film Battleship Island. Based on the real life events of … Continue reading

Movie Posters for Battleship Island Show the Korean Faces Seeking Escape from a Concrete Isle

The movie posters are out for upcoming period war era movie Battleship Island, depicting the slavery and escape of Korean citizens from the Japanese industrial island of Hashima (also known as Battleship Island or Gunkanjima). Starring So Ji Sub, Song … Continue reading