Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice' Gains Word-of-Mouth Success in the U.S.... "More Profitable than Hugh Jackman"

The number of screens was not important. Director Park Chan-wook's unique worldview and Lee Byung-hun's overwhelming performance are attracting American audiences to theaters. The film 〈No Other Choice〉 is achieving remarkable 'value-for-money success' amidst Hollywood blockbusters.

According to the U.S. box office revenue tracking site 'Box Office Mojo', this film, which premiered in 13 theaters on the 25th of last month, expanded to 45 screens starting from the 2nd of this month. Entering the North American box office at 12th place the day after its release, it has maintained the same ranking as of the 4th, generating approximately $1.98 million (about 290 million won) in ticket sales over the 10 days since its release.

In particular, the average revenue per theater exceeds that of Hollywood blockbusters. Comparing it to 〈Song Sung Blue〉, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, which recorded $24.94 million during the same period across 2,587 theaters, 〈No Other Choice〉 has shown significantly higher performance in terms of revenue per theater.

The word-of-mouth effect is also evident. While 〈Song Sung Blue〉 saw a 24% decrease in revenue on the Sunday of its second week compared to the previous week, 〈No Other Choice〉 experienced a 97.7% surge in revenue during the same period.

Audience ratings are also favorable. On the movie and TV show rating site Rotten Tomatoes, this film has a general audience score of 93. One user praised it, saying, "An excellent movie from start to finish. Park Chan-wook's best work."

Meanwhile, 〈No Other Choice〉 is nominated for three categories at the Golden Globe Awards on the 11th: Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Best Foreign Language Film, and Best Actor (Lee Byung-hun). However, it was disappointing that it did not win in the Adapted Screenplay and Foreign Language Film categories at the Critics' Choice Awards held the day before.