‘Jjanguu’ Breaks 200,000 Viewers in 8 Days After Release, ‘The Wind’s’ Box Office Doubles!

According to the integrated ticketing computer system for movie theater admissions, movie 〈Jjanguu〉 surpassed 200,000 cumulative viewers at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29. Just eight days after its April 22 (Wednesday) release, it has jumped past the final score of 〈The Wind〉 (2009), starring Jeong-woo, and is currently on a pace that’s about double ahead of other films released in the same period. After 17 years, Jeong-woo—who once portrayed the youth of a Busan man in the most straightforward way—returns to his roots by directing and starring as the Busan man, Jjanguu. As much sincerity has thickened over the 17 years Jeong-woo, as an actor, has walked to reach this role, it comes through on the screen exactly as it is, and the second youth in 17 years is tracing a box-office curve sturdier than the first.

It’s especially meaningful that it has consistently maintained a top rank in seat sales for Korean films, even in an environment where the number of showtimes is not particularly high. It is positioned as one of the Korean films with the highest audience density per screening, and it proves that this is not merely the effect of release, but that the film’s own core strength is driving its box-office momentum.

During the golden holiday period—when audiences arrive in droves by family, friends, and couples—〈Jjanguu〉 will be set to take the center stage of May’s Korean film box office with a universal emotional resonance that doesn’t divide generations, and with the challenge of youth that rises again even after being knocked down. The story of Jjanguu, reaching not only the younger peers who pursued their dreams, but also all generations of viewers who have made it through the time when they chased those dreams, connects with audiences through the most universally Korean spirit of encouragement. Here, 〈The Devil Wears Prada 2〉 is expected to continue a double box-office pull during the holiday, each offering entertainment with different appeal for different genders.

Movie 〈Jjanguu〉 is a fun, intense audition-challenge drama about Jjanguu—an audition genius who keeps getting knocked down and frustrated, yet endures and stands back up with one wish: to become an actor. The film 〈Jjanguu〉, set to ignite box-office momentum for the May golden holiday ‘The Wind,’ is currently playing in theaters nationwide.