A South Koreanmelodrama is giving Harry Potter a run for its money. For while The Prisoner Of Azkaban was theundisputed champion at the international box office over the weekend, taking$87m-plus, new release Windstruck achieved a better screen average of$11,190 against Potter's $11,060.

Directedby Kwak Jae-yong and starring Jun Ji-hyun and Jang Hyuk, the film is about theromance between a young policewoman and a high school teacher. Kwak and Junworked together on the 2000 romcom blockbuster My Sassy Girl - one of the most successful Korean movies ever.

Ina first for a Korean film, Windstruckwas released simultaneously in South Korea and Hong Kong, with mainland Chinato follow on June 11.

"We'retrying to show our movie in Asian countries on the same day", Windstruck producer Choi Soo-young, toldlocal press, "to prevent the circulation of pirated movie files".

"The other main reason is that the movie was co-produced by aHong Kong production company," she added.

Alsofor the first time in Korean movie history, the entire production costs wereprovided by foreign investors. Arranged by the Hong Kong-based production anddistribution company EDKO Film, which recently began distributing Korean filmsin Hong Kong and China, US banks invested in Windstruck for the Korean production company, iFilm Co.

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