Selangor Journal
‘Peninsula’ the sequel to the 2016 mega-hit zombie blockbuster “Train to Busan”, sets opening-day box office record for 2020.

‘Peninsula’ sets opening-day box office record for 2020

SEOUL, July 16 — The zombie thriller “Peninsula” attracted more than 350,000 moviegoers on the first day of its release, marking this year’s highest opening-day attendance in South Korean cinema slumped by the coronavirus, its distributor said Thursday.

The sequel to the 2016 mega-hit zombie blockbuster “Train to Busan” drew 352,926 viewers on Wednesday, according to the Next Entertainment World Co. It beat this year’s highest first-day score of about 252,000 set by “The Man Standing Next” in January, Yonhap news agency reported.

Directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun, “Peninsula” tells a tale of survivors on the zombie-infested Korean Peninsula four years after the events in “Train to Busan.”

The flick made a strong overseas debut on the same day.

In Singapore, “Peninsula” racked up RM452,140 (147,000 Singapore Dollars or US$106,000) on Wednesday to record a record-high first day showing by a South Korean film in the country.

The fantasy “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018) had the highest grossing first day in Singapore for a Korean film with RM364,960 (119,000 Singapore Dollars), followed by “Train to Busan” (2016) and “Parasite” (2019).

At the Taiwanese box office, the “Peninsula” earned RM3.41 million (US$800,000) on Wednesday, ahead of RM3.28 million (US$770,000) tallied by “Train to Busan” four years ago.

The new movie was officially invited to this year’s Cannes Film Festival and pre-sold to over 180 nations and territories, including Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Britain, and France.

It will hit North American screens on August 8, after being released in Vietnam on July 24 and in New Zealand on Aug. 6.

— Bernama

 

Top Picks

BNM: Malaysia’s official reserve assets at US$114.28 bln as of February 2024

SC issues revised guidelines on conduct for capital market intermediaries

MIDF Research: Malaysia can become major supplier of sustainable aviation fuel in Asia Pacific

Editor Selangor Journal