PARK Chan-wook’s Box Office Report, as Dynamic as His Films
The Handmaiden,
PARK Chan-wook’s newest film, is making a new record in the R-rated movie category. In just 12 days since release, as of June 12th,
The Handmaiden has reached 3 million viewers, which is the second fastest record in the R-rated category, next to
Inside Men (2015). The next challenge that
The Handmaiden is facing is the 5 million admissions of
Joint Security Area /JSA, which is PARK’s current biggest box office hit.
PARK was often referred to as an unfortunate genius, when both his movies in the 90s,
The Moon Is What The Sun Dreams Of (1992) and
Trio (1997), made a box office disaster. However, since the wonderful success of
Joint Security Area /JSA in 2000, he became one of the greatest box office performers, always making the hottest news. The exact number is not available, but the number of viewers for
Joint Security Area /JSA is known to be around 5 million. However,
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), his next film, was not at all successful in the box office unlike the warm reception by the critics.
Nonetheless, reversals continued. When
Old Boy (2003) and
Sympathy For Lady Vengeance (2005) both reached 3 million viewers, PARK won both the general audience and critics, but
I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK (2006) collapsed again in the box office with only 730,000 admissions. Then
Thirst (2009), his next film, was successful again with 2.23 million admissions.
As seen so far, PARK’s works kept alternating between box office success and failure. As
Stoker (2013), PARK’s Hollywood movie right before
The Handmaiden, was not successful with only 370,000 viewers, now it is his turn to be successful again. And
The Handmaiden is already successful. It is interesting to see where this success will lead to, looking back on his previous box office history that is like a dramatic roller coaster.