"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" may be a global sensation, but Korean audiences showed stronger support for the domestic film, "The Himalayas."
According to statistics released by KOFIC (Korean Film Council), the mountaineering movie reigned over the Korean box office for the lucrative three-day Christmas weekend.
"The Himalayas" grossed $12.2 million USD, with a record-breaking 436,000 tickets sold on December 25th, beating out the 2013 courtroom drama, "The Attorney," which previously held the title of top-earning Korean Christmas movie.
Hwang Jung Min continues his meteoric reign as a top-earning leading man in "The Himalayas," following the success of the 2014 family melodrama "Ode to My Father" and his portrayal of a hard-as-nails cop in "Veteran."
In his latest hit, he takes the helm as Uhm Hong Kil, the expedition leader of a team that journeys to the Himalayas to retrieve the body of Park Moo Taek.
Hwang is joined by Jung Woo (C'est Si Bon), Cho Seong Ha (Commitment), and Kim In Kwon (Tazza 2).
Audiences in select North American theaters will have the opportunity to watch "The Himalayas" when the movie opens on January 1, 2016.
"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" placed second with $7.02 million USD in ticket sales. While the film did not conquer Korea's box office, it became the fastest movie to gross $1 billion USD with global audiences, surpassing "Jurassic World."
The science fiction blockbuster was followed by the animated feature flick, "Hotel Transylvania 2," which generated $4.25 million USD, with its debut.
Korean productions maintained a strong presence during the holiday weekend, with the period drama, "The Tiger" and "Inside Men" rounding out the top five of highest grossing films. "Inside Men" remains second as the top earning rated-R film of all-time.
