"Harry Potter" leads Korean box office

U.S./ U.K. film "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows Part 1"

Warner Bros' latest installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1,” arrived on top of Korea's box office over the weekend, according to data by Korean Box Office Information System (KOBIS) on Monday.

“Harry Potter” starring Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson attracted 564,911 viewers between December 17 and 19 after opening in theaters last Thursday.

The film which is the first of two movies based on J.K. Rowling's seventh and final book in the "Harry Potter" series, marks the beginning to the end of the boy wizard's odyssey.

Korean romantic comedy “The Petty Love Affair” starring Lee Sun-kyun and Choi Kang-hee climbed up to second from third place the previous week, selling a total 170,530 tickets during the same period.

Another local romance “Finding Mr. Destiny” with Gong Yoo and Lim Soo-jung playing the main characters came in third with 119,260 viewers. The film which opened on December 8 is the adaption to a popular musical in Korea.

Other films that ranked high on recent box office chart included fantasy film “The Chronicles of Narnia” The Voyage of The Dawn Treader,” Belgium animation “Sammy’s Adventures: The Secret Passage,” an action-thriller “The Tourist” and local black comedy Villain and Widow.”

Newcomers were “The Last Station,” about the final days of great Russian author Tolstoy, “Don’t Cry For Me, Sudan“ a Korean documentary film that looked into the life of pastor Lee Tae-suk and his work in Sudan and Japanese hit-animation “Pokemon DP; The Ruler of Illusion Zoroark.”

Reporter : Heidi Kim heidikim@
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@