A Moment To Remember opens at #1 in Japan

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John H. Lee's A Moment to Remember starring JUNG Woo-sung and SON Ye-jin has opened at #1 in Japan only the second time a Korean film has ever debuted at the top of the Japanese box office. The film hasdrawn wide interest in Japan both because of the Korean Wave and because the film is based on a popular Japanese TV drama. Although exact opening figures are not available yet, the film opened on 308 screens and held off competition from Hollywood films Corpse Bride and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. To date, the only other Korean film to open at #1 in Japan was Shiri, with April Snow and JSA both opening at #2. A Moment to Remember's distributor Gaga Communications expended a lavish $6 million marketing campaign on the film prior to its October 22 release. The company says it expects the film to ultimately gross 3 billion yen (~US$26 million). To date, the highest grossing Korean film in Japan is April Snow, which is still on release and which has totaled 2.4 billion yen. Incidentally, both A Moment to Remember and April Snow feature the same lead actress SON Ye-jin. A Moment to Remember was produced by Sidus Pictures and released by CJ Entertainment in Korea in late 2004, where it sold over 2.4 million tickets. Darcy Paquet

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