"V.I.P.," the Korean thriller-action movie starring Lee Jong-suk and Jang Dong-gun, has ruled the Korean box office for two straight days.
The film opened on top of the box office on August 23 with 174,022 in total admission and $1.17 million in daily gross, translating to a revenue share of 33.51 percent for the day, based on data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
It overtook the box office hit "A Taxi Driver," which had dominated the ranking for three weeks since it opened on August 2. Placing third is the Korean film "Midnight Runners," starring Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul.
For two days, "V.I.P" has earned $2.3 million with 341,610 tickets sold to maintain its No. 1 position. It is projected to breach the 500,000 audience mark on August 25.
The movie is about North Korean defector Gwang-il, played by Lee Jong Suk, who is suspected of being a serial killer and is being chased by operatives from South Korea, US and North Korea.
Despite the release of "V.I.P.," the films "A Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Runners" are still drawing audience.
"A Taxi Driver" has already reached 10.84 million audience, the first film in Korea to achieve the 10-million mark it this year, and earned $75.5 million.
As of August 24, "Midnight Runners" has grossed $30 million with total admission of 4.3 million since August 9.
In "V.I.P.," Lee Jong Suk has essayed a completely different role compared to his past project.
"That kind of powerful expression was fun. It felt like I had done some proper acting," he told the Korea Herald.
In playing psychopath, he projected it in a different way.
"You see a lot of killers in movies who feel euphoria after killing. Director Park said it would be really new, and would suit me better, if I would rejoice like a little boy who's gotten what he wants," he said.
He said he's striking while the iron is hot with regard to his career.
"I plan to consume my image and my acting as much as I can. After I've shown so much of myself, I might be driven to find new aspects of myself. Or I might slowly stop getting offers. People might stop being curious about me. Then, I might just disappear (from the acting scene). I think that would be okay," he said.
