Modes of transportation have become the biggest box office winners in South Korea two years running. This summer’s A Taxi Driver has crossed the 12 million moviegoer threshold and is officially the 10th highest grossing Korean movie of all time, pushing Taegukgi down to the 11th spot. It’s probably slowed down to the point that it may not surpass 9th place The King and the Clown but it’s still a remarkable achievement, and nearly double the box office or more highly promoted Battleship Island with 6.5 million views. A Taxi Driver may retain the 2017 box office crown as last summer’s Train to Busan with 11.5 million viewers went on to be the year’s highest grossing movie and is now in the 12th spot. Congrats to A Taxi Driver and cast Song Kang Ho, Yoo Hae Jin, Ryu Jun Yeol, and Thomas Kretschmann. Next year hopefully there will be a top grossing airplane movie to complete the triumvirate of planes, trains, and automobiles.
I’ve noticed a thing about Korean box office (and critical) hits which is different from American box office hits. The Korean ones hardly have any romance in them and they’re mostly focused on political, social justice or family issues. I mean, of course some romance films with 2-4 million viewers are usually considered hits but mega blockbusters with record breaking audience attendance? Correct me if I’m wrong
Well there is almost no romance in American cinema right now and hasn’t been for a long time. It is a lot of reboots and Marvel/DC Comics these days. I think the US does do family issue/political/social issues but they are usually smaller films released before awards season.
Yes, Hollywood is nowadays all about remakes, Marvel and DC comics and not to forget crappy sequels and excessive CGI. The current blockbusters hardly represent finer acting or critically acclaimed work pieces. I think La La Land is the latest box office hit with critical acclaim I can think of having romance. The Danish Girl too.
If i’m not wrong i read somewhere that Hollywood doesn’t produce pratically any romances. The blockbusters failed this summer and they still waiting for the results of asian market ! The independant movies are not well known. No Wonder that all great actors were at the emmy’s ! They have great dramas. A contrario in korea lately they have such good movies but the the quality of dramas is dropping and even if i’m a drama lover with affection for some actors, i can’t deny that even their acting is not at their best. Just my opinion.
Memoirs of A Murderer is also doing very well despite the lack of big names. For its scale, the movie is doing well.
Sol Kyung-gu is a big name in Chungmuro. He has been a Chungmuro A-lister for a long time. He has a lot of critical acclaimed films under his belt and have headlined a couple of blockbuster films like “Haeundae” and “Silmido” etc.
Sol Kyung Gu is considered one of the greatest Korean actor. Even Chi Min Shik is his fan but he did not had a lot of mega hits under his belt.
Yea Choi Min-shik’s “Roaring Currents” is his only film to surpass the 10 mil tickets sale but set the record with the most tickets sold (17+ mil). That is going to be very hard to beat.
14yrs ago “Silmido” was the first Korean film to surpass the 10 mil tickets sale with 11+ mil. It was a mega hit back then and it’s still considered a mega hit today.”Haeundae” sold more tickets so he has 2 mega hits under his belt.
The only actor with more is Song Kang-ho with 3.
Yoo Hae Jin is doing very well, his other movie this year Confidential Assignment also surpass 7 million views! Already two great movies in 2017 and the year is not over yet!
Congrats to Taxi Driver cast and production crew.
They are big names in K-film industry. People outside korea probably arent familiar with their names but guess what? They are more famous than some popular kdrama actors in Korea. That’s why many K-movie actors are A list actors and only a few from Kdrama actors. In every country, film is always in different level. But then, i love dramas more haha. I just cant watch 1 or 2 hours movie. I need 16 episodes at least lols. Oh mt taste. ??
Only delulu childish fans, such as Minoz etc. don’t know that their oppar isn’t the best at acting in Korea. They think that some TV station year end awards and being popular in dramas guarantees that they are some good actors lmao ?
Those who have watched different films for years know how to separate fan’s praise from critics’ praise. If you listened to Richard Gere fans for example, you’d think he was a good actor or something, but in reality he is such a lackluster actor. His looks aren’t even that great but according to his fans, he is the ’handsomest’
Ouch…it hurts me when you said that about Richard Gere since he is my favourite actor in the world – who could nullified my love for Lee Jun Ki, Park Hyung Sik and Kim Nam Gil. LOL. But ofc, some can appreciate his acting and some not. Nobody can forced anyone to share same opinion. Anyway, he is a seasoned actor now and “Arbitrage” is one of his finest works so far. Love Richard Gere still. Peace.