'Independence Day' franchise makes successful return to Korean box office after 20 years

By Shim Sun-ah

SEOUL, June 27 (Yonhap) -- The Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster "Independence Day: Resurgence" landed with 699,687 in attendance to take the No. 1 spot at the South Korean box office last weekend, data showed Monday.

Directed by Roland Emmerich, the sequel to the 1996 hit film "Independence Day" depicts the Earth facing a new threat, 20 years after a calamitous alien attack on U.S. Independence Day drove mankind to the brink of ruin. The sequel was released in 2-D, 3-D and IMAX 3-D versions.

"The Jungle Book" fell to No. 2 after topping the box office for two straight weekends, amassing 350,586 viewers over the June 24-26 weekend, according to the computerized box-office figures from the Korean Film Council.

Based on British author Rudyard Kipling's timeless namesake story, the film received strong reviews for creating more than 70 sorts of animals and jungle creatures in CGI with a production cost of US$175 million. Released on June 9, it has been seen by more than 2 million people in South Korea.

The Korean crime drama "Proof of Innocence" also dropped to No. 3 with 237,966 viewers on its second week of run.

The film is about a policeman-turned-manager of a lawyer's office delving into a hidden crime by a conglomerate's owning family after receiving a letter from a death-row inmate. Its total attendance number topped 1 million on Sunday.

"The Conjuring 2," the sequel to the internationally successful supernatural horror film "The Conjuring," was at No. 4 with 204,807 in attendance.

Director Park Chan-wook's erotic thriller "The Handmaiden" came in fifth place, collecting 155,199 people on its fourth week of run.

But the film surpassed the 4 million mark in the accumulated number of viewers Saturday, the highest for all X-rated films directed by Park. The previous record was 3.65 million set by his 2005 thriller "Sympathy For Lady Vengeance."

Of all Park films, "The Handmaiden" became the second most viewed after "Joint Security Area" (2000).

sshim@yna.co.kr
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