Historical action drama 12.12: The Day has surpassed 12 million admissions and $90m at the South Korea box office as of today (January 2), according to the Korea Box-office Information System (Kobis).
The Korean film has been revitalising the local box office, where the only stand-out hit of 2023 had been Don Lee’s crime action franchise film The Roundup: No Way Out, with 10.6 million admissions and $79.8m.
12.12: The Day, released by Plus M Entertainment on November 22, ended the year with more than 11.8 million admissions and $88m, making it the biggest film of 2023 at the South Korea box office.
The film is at 17th place in South Korea’s all-time box office records, ahead of 2016 zombie action thriller Train To Busan with its 11.5 million admissions. Next in its sights is A Taxi Driver - a historical film based on the May 1980 Gwangju democratic uprising and massacre, starring Song Kang-ho – which reached nearly 12.2 million in 2017.
Previously known as Seoul Spring, the film is directed by Kim Sung-soo, known for Asura: The City Of Madness, and stars Hwang Jung-min of The Spy Gone North and Jung Woo-sung of Hunt and Asura: The City Of Madness.
The story is based on events that took place on December 12, 1979 when military commander Chun Doo-hwan staged a coup d’etat to seize power less than two months after long-time dictator Park Chung-hee’s assassination. The date is considered a pivotal one in modern Korean history, opening another era of dictatorship that directly led to the military massacre of civilians in Gwangju after protest demonstrations took place in May 1980.
Names have been altered in the feature but audiences aware of the historical significance have been reported as going to see it on and around December 12, 2023 to mark the day. The release date of November 22 was a day before the second anniversary of Chun’s death.
In the film, Hwang stars as the military commander leading the coup d’etat while Jung is another who goes up against him to try to stop it. Produced by Hive Media Corp, the feature has been praised for its acting, scripting, direction and production, with a stellar supporting cast that includes Lee Sung-min (TV’s Reborn Rich), Park Hae-joon (Emergency Declaration) and Kim Sung-kyun (Sinkhole).
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