Congratulations Kim Soo Hyun, Park Ki Woong and Lee Hyun Woo! The new film, "Secretly and Greatly," which stars these popular kdrama actors, has broken the record for domestic box office openings.
According to the Korean publication, The Women's News, the film sold 498,282 tickets on opening day, which breaks the record for the highest single-day opening in Korea. The film surpassed the record held by "The Host," which opened with 450,000 tickets and Kim Soo Hyun's previous movie, "The Thieves," which sold 436,596 tickets on its opening day. To compare it to sales of an international film, "Iron Man," only sold 422,000 tickets.
Within 36 hours, "Secretly and Greatly" had sold over a million tickets, being the fastest movie ever to reach a million tickets sold in Korea.
Part of the reason for its success has to be its three young stars.
In this film, Kim Soo Hyun plays Won Ryu Hwan, a highly skilled member of the elite North Korean Special Forces who can speak five languages. He is sent to South Korea spy and pretends to be a not-too-bright young man. Because he appears to be so helpless, older woman cares for him and treats him like her adopted son.
One of the other spies is Lee Hae Rang, played by Park Ki Woong. He pretends to be an idol hopeful, but he can't play the guitar. He is really the son of a high-ranking North Korean official. Ri Hae Jin, played by Lee Hyun Woo, is the youngest secret agent in North Korean history, so he pretends to be a student. The three young men enjoy their covert lives in South Korea, waiting for their final orders to arrive. What they don't know is that their mission has been cancelled and they have been declared expendable. To prevent these spies from falling into the wrong hands, someone is sent to find and eliminate them.
All three actors have excellent kdrama credentials.
Kim Soo Hyun is best known to kdrama fans for his role as King Lee Hwon in "The Moon Embracing the Sun." He also starred in the musical drama "Dream High," appeared in "Giant," and "Will it Snow for Christmas."
Park Ki Woong won a "Best Supporting Actor" award for his performance as Kimura Shunji in "Bridal Mask," played Won Jang Hwi in "Full House, Take 2," and Yoo Jin in "The Musical."
Lee Hyun Woo played the young Kim Yushin in "Queen Seonduk," the young Kim Sun Woo in "Man From The Equator" and Cha Eun Gyul in "To The Beautiful You."
