[Chuseok Holiday Box Office] Yoo Hae-jin and Park Hae-il's 'Assassins' and 'Tazza 4' knock out 'The Odyssey,' draw 130,000 on opening day for No. 1

'Tazza 4' closes in after topping 100,000 admissions, reaches a 31.6% advance-booking rate over the Chuseok holiday

Shots fired in 1974 consume the box office

'Assassins', which probes the events behind the 1974 shooting of the first lady, seized the box-office crown with overwhelming momentum on its opening day. According to data from the Korea Film Council's integrated ticketing system on the 24th, 'Assassins', which opened the previous day, drew more than 134,000 moviegoers and captured 31.8% of box-office revenue.

Under the meticulous direction of director Hur Jin-ho, the ensemble of Yoo Hae-jin as Detective Cheol-gu, Park Hae-il as Jae-hwan, the head of the social affairs desk, and Lee Min-ho as Young-il, a rookie reporter, has fully satisfied audiences' intellectual curiosity, critics said.

The finale after 20 years: The bloody love-hate story of two rival card sharks

Opening during the same period, 'Tazza: Song of the Belzebub' (hereafter 'Tazza 4') settled into second place after drawing more than 103,000 moviegoers, for a 25.1% share. The film, which brings the 20-year saga to a close following 'Tazza' (2006), starring Cho Seung-woo, is directed by Choi Kook-hee, who helmed 'Default'.

The bloody revenge story of two men with the same name, Jang Tae-young (Byun Yo-han) and Park Tae-young (Roh Jae-won), delivers sustained tension. Both tentpole films have won fervent praise from actual viewers, earning CGV Egg Scores of 94% for 'Assassins' and 92% for 'Tazza 4', setting the stage for a weekend box-office showdown.

A master's return, a resilient foreign film and a diverse screen landscape

Even as the upper ranks of the box office undergo a major shake-up, independent films and long-running hits continue to make their presence felt. Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' held firmly to third place, drawing more than 41,000 moviegoers and pushing its cumulative audience past 11.32 million. 'The Intern', starring Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee, took fourth place with more than 23,000 admissions, while 'Avengers: Endgame Encore', re-released with previously unreleased exclusive footage, ranked fifth with more than 21,000.

In particular, director Lee Chang-dong's Netflix film 'Possible Love', which won the Silver Lion at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, opened in sixth place with more than 19,000 admissions, drawing art-house film fans to theaters. The weighty questions about class and the suffering of others raised by top actors including Sol Kyung-gu, Jeon Do-yeon, Cho Yeo-jeong and Zo In-sung earned overwhelming acclaim, reflected in an Egg Score of 96%.

The momentum in the fierce advance-booking battle also favors 'Assassins'. As of the morning of the 24th, it was racing ahead in first place with a 31.6% advance-booking rate, representing more than 268,000 tickets. 'The Odyssey' followed with 18.3%, and 'Tazza 4' with 12.6%. 'Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island', which opens on the 30th, ranked fourth with 10.4%, demonstrating the strength of the animation fan base.