It has been a very good year for Korean actor Choi Min Suk. He's winning praise for his performance as a gangster in the Luc Bresson box office hit "Lucy," which co-stars Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman. And his new k-movie "Roaring Currents" has claimed victory over the Korean box office. The film surpassed the five million mark half way through its first week.
"Roaring Currents" quickly outpaced the record of "Kundo: Age of the Rampant," which set a record during the previous week.
According to the film's distributor CJ Entertainment, "Roaring Currents" beat several records and in a hurry. It was the most-attended movie on opening day, as well as the most attended on a business day and was best attended for a single day. The film also passed the two, three and four million attendance marks in record time. It took only 37 hours to sell its first million tickets.
Industry experts say that the film's box office power was helped by the fact that the film was released at over 1,500 theaters and had the marketing power of the leading Korean distributor.
But the film's subject matter is also appealing, as it is an inspiring story of an underdog taking on and mastering overwhelming odds.
"Roaring Currents" is based on the true story of Admiral Yi Shun Shin's naval victory against Japan during the 16th century.
The admiral defied the odds, conquering 300 Japanese ships with only about a dozen ships in his command. The victory took place in a decisive battle near Jindo Island. The admiral is considered a brilliant military strategist as he accomplished his victory by outthinking the enemy. He lured the Japanese battleships into a cleverly designed trap. The irony is that before the battle, Admiral Yi was in disgrace for defying his King. He almost lost his leadership role but fortunately was reinstated.
The film stars Choi Min Suk as the admiral, Ryu Seung Ryong as Kurushima Michifusa, Cho Jin Woong as Wakisaka Yasuharu, Kim Myung Gon as Todo Takatora, Jin Goo as Im Jun Young, Lee Jung Hyun as Lady Jung and Kwon Yul as Yi Hwoe.
Kim Han Min, who directed "War of the Arrows" is the director.
One noteworthy thing about the film is that the director did not rely on CGI alone to recreate his epic battle. He actually built eight full-size films from authentic materials. Then he shot a few of them to bits.
