'Minari' passes 1 million ticket sales in Korea

A poster for ″Minari″ hangs in a movie theater in Seoul. [YONHAP]

Korean ticket sales for the film “Minari” exceeded 1 million on Saturday, a rare record during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sales were boosted by the news that the film by Korean-American director Lee Isaac Chung won several major film awards, in particular the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category for Youn Yuh-jung, who played a non-stereotypical grandma in the film.

According to the Korean Film Council on Sunday, “Minari” has attracted 1.01 million viewers as of Saturday in the two months since it was released on March 3. “Minari” is the third film to exceed the 1 million ticket threshold in Korea this year. The first film was Disney's jazz-filled animation "Soul," released in January, which exceeded the threshold in two weeks. The second film was Japanese anime "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train."

"Minari" topped the local box office for the first three weeks and then saw its ranking decline gradually. However, sales rebounded last week after Youn became the first Korean actor to win an Oscar at the ceremony held in Los Angeles on April 25.

The film tells the story of a Korean migrant family chasing the American dream in the 1980s, based on the story of the director’s own family. In Korea reviews have been mixed, with film critics generally acclaiming the movie while some members of the general public complain that the film is too calm.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG [symoon@joongang.co.kr]