A 1970s-set film about high school violence has taken hold of the South Korean box-office, drawing 800,000 admissions ($4.5m) on 270 screens in its first three days.

Spirits Of Jeet Kune Do: Once Upon A Time In High School, the film by poet-director Yu Ha (Marriage Is A Crazy Thing) portrays a group of Bruce Lee-obsessed high school boys in a hierarchical school environment that is plagued by violence.

The film marks the third major success in a row - after last year's Memories Of Murder and Singles - for production company Sidus Corporation, which is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary this year.

Just this week, Sidus saw 100% of its stock purchased for $3.4m (WON 4 billion) by SecuriCorp Inc., a firm specialising in security systems and communications. A Sidus representative noted that the investment would allow the company to concentrate on production and be comparatively free of financial uncertainties.

In late 2000, Sidus was bought out by Locus Holdings Corporation several months before the latter also purchased major distributor Cinema Service. After splitting from the group in 2002, Sidus was rumoured to be near insolvency before the runaway success of Memories Of Murder ($27m local box-office) rescued the company.

Once Upon A Time In High School is financed and sold internationally by major distributor CJ Entertainment.