Romance-thriller ‘Time Renegades’ takes the lead

Kwak Jae-yong’s romance thriller “Time Renegades” opened in first place over the weekend in Korea, accounting for 30 percent of box office sales. [CJ ENTERTAINMENT]

The time-traveling romance flick “Time Renegades” opened securely in the No. 1 spot during the weekend, outperforming its biggest competitor, “Love, Lies,” which stopped short in fifth place.

“Time Renegades” sold 336,136 tickets over the weekend, making 2.8 billion won ($2.4 million) in Korean theaters. It accounted for nearly 30 percent of weekend box office sales, according to the Korean Film Council.

Directed by Kwak Jae-yong of “My Sassy Girl” (2001) and “The Classic” (2003), which are considered classic romance films in Korea, “Time Renegades” fuses elements of thriller and romance by following two men from different time periods as they communicate through dreams to save a woman they both love.

Actress Lim Soo-jung plays the female protagonist whose life is in danger, while Jo Jung-suk and Lee Jin-wook play two men living 30 years apart.

“Insane,” a true-story-based thriller about an ordinary woman who one day gets locked up in a mental clinic, stepped down a notch to second place, adding 190,563 tickets sold to bring its two-week total to 805,781 admissions.

Universal Pictures’ CGI extravaganza “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” starring Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt and Chris Hemsworth debuted in third place with 169,804 admissions.

Made as a prequel to the 2012 adventure flick “Snow White and the Huntsman,” this visual spectacle follows a fierce rivalry between queen sisters Ravenna and Freya.

Lotte Entertainment’s “Love, Lies,” a period film set during the Japanese colonial era (1910-45) in what’s called a gwonbeon, where gisaengs (female entertainers) were trained to sing traditional songs, opened with a mediocre 133,563 tickets sold, making 1.1 billion won.

The film directed by Park Heung-sik stars Han Hyo-joo and Chun Woo-hee, whose precious friendship breaks apart once the singing career of Chun’s character, Yeon-hee, takes flight, and then the two become entangled in bad love triangle relationship.

KOREA BOX OFFICE
1 Time Renegades
2 Insane
3 The Huntsman: Winter's War

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]