[Box Office] Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee's 'The Intern' pulls off upset over Nolan's 'The Odyssey,' tops 275,000 in opening week

The remake 'The Intern', starring Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee, completely upended the box-office standings over its opening weekend.

Generational casting proves explosive, takes over the screen

According to data from the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing network on the 21st, 'The Intern' drew more than 275,000 moviegoers from the 18th through the 20th, capturing a '26.0% share of ticket sales' and vaulting straight into first place. Since its release on the 16th, the film has attracted more than 404,000 moviegoers.

The film closely follows the intergenerational communication that unfolds when Gi-ho (Choi Min-sik), a retiree who has completed 30 years in the workforce, joins the company of Sun-woo (Han So-hee), a fashion startup CEO in her third year. It is a Korean reinterpretation of the 'Hollywood original' of the same name, which paired Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway in 2015, and has won praise from critics and audiences alike.

Blockbuster foreign film shows staying power as mid-tier battle intensifies

Christopher Nolan's sweeping science-fiction epic 'The Odyssey' slipped one spot to second after drawing more than 256,000 moviegoers over the weekend. But it continues to show formidable box-office strength with a '30.7% share of ticket sales'. With cumulative attendance of more than 11,217,000, it became the sixth foreign film ever released in South Korea to cross the '11 million admissions' milestone.

Competition in the middle of the rankings is heating up as well. The horror film 'Obsession,' released on the 2nd, held third place with more than 131,000 admissions (13.7%), while 'Resident Evil: Night Zero,' which hit screens on the 17th, settled into fourth with more than 80,000 admissions (8.2%). 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' which has recorded more than 8.99 million admissions, added more than 33,000 (2.8%) and is now on the verge of 'surpassing 9 million admissions.'

Reclaims top advance-booking spot as wave of new Korean films approaches

Theatergoers are turning their attention to films opening on the 23rd. As of 9 a.m. on the 21st, director Hur Jin-ho's new film 'The Assassins' led advance bookings with a 29.2% share (more than 154,000 tickets), signaling a fresh box-office surge.

'The Odyssey' followed in second with 22.1% (more than 116,000 tickets), while 'Tazza: The Song of Belzebub', set to open simultaneously, ranked third with 14.0% (more than 73,000 tickets), further intensifying the second-half box-office competition.

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