The Korea Herald

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'Okja' ranks fourth on opening day despite theaters' boycott

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : June 30, 2017 - 11:16

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Director Bong Joon-ho's "Okja" came in fourth at the South Korean box office on its opening day, despite major cinema chains' boycott of the Netflix-financed film, data showed Friday.

The movie attracted 23,106 cinemagoers on Thursday, ranking behind Korean films "Anarchist from Colony" and "Real," and the Hollywood action blockbuster "Transformers: The Last Knight," according to the Korean Film Council.

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

"Anarchist" was seen by 141,279. "Real" and "Transformers" chalked up 57,739 and 46,551, respectively.

The country's three largest multi-screen chains refused to run the movie in protest of its simultaneous release on Netflix, which they said would "destroy the ecosystem of the local film industry."

(Yonhap) (Yonhap)

The theater companies -- CJ CGV, Lotte Cinema and Megabox -- control some 90 percent of screens in the country.

The movie was available only on 94 screens in comparison to the 995, 918 and 859 screens allotted for "Anarchist", "Real" and "Transformers," respectively. (Yonhap)