Park Chan-wook's 'No Other Choice' Expected to Rank Second Among All-Time Korean Live-Action Films Following 'Parasite'

Director Park Chan-wook's new film 〈No Other Choice〉 is expected to set a new record for the second highest box office earnings for a Korean film in history in the U.S. market.

Hollywood trade publication Deadline reported on the 16th (local time) that "This will be the most successful work of Park Chan-wook's 34-year directing career at the U.S. box office, which has numerous awards from the Cannes Film Festival."

According to Deadline, 〈No Other Choice〉 has recorded ticket sales of $4.2 million (approximately 6.2 billion won) through a limited release in major U.S. cities. This figure has already surpassed that of Park's previous work 〈Oldboy〉 (which earned $2.46 million according to Box Office Mojo).

Considering the current box office trends, the industry predicts that total revenue in North America will ultimately reach the $10 million range. This is expected to make it the second highest-grossing Korean film in North America, following Bong Joon-ho's Academy Award-winning film 〈Parasite〉 (which earned a total of $53.85 million).

The previous second highest-grossing Korean film at the North American box office was Shin Hyung-rae's 2007 film 〈D-War〉 (which earned $10.98 million).

〈No Other Choice〉 has been steadily attracting audiences in Phoenix, Arizona, San Diego and Sacramento in California, and Raleigh in North Carolina, and will expand to 700 theaters starting from the weekend of its fourth week of release.

Worldwide box office revenue is currently nearing $27 million (approximately 39.8 billion won), and it is expected to surpass the record of Park's previous film 〈The Handmaiden〉 (which earned a total of $37.86 million).

Tom Quinn, CEO of North American distributor Neon, stated, "〈Oldboy〉 is the work that changed my entire career and perspective on film," adding, "All top-tier filmmakers will mention Director Park as a source of inspiration that led them to pursue a career in filmmaking and as a reference for their own works."

Meanwhile, Deadline did not make a separate mention of the Korean production company Mo-Factory Studio's animation 〈King of Kings〉, which broke the record of 〈Parasite〉 with a North American box office of $60.27 million last year. 〈King of Kings〉 was produced through extensive collaboration with local filmmakers targeting the U.S. market and was first released in North America in April of last year.