"The Thieves" has became the most popular Korean movie of all time, beating the previous record set by the 2006 movie "The Host," the latest box-office sensation's distributor said Tuesday.
The movie by director Choe Dong-hoon had drawn 13,020,393 local movie goers as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, breaking the previous top audience record of 13,019,740 set by "The Host," directed by Bong Joon-ho, Showbox said.
After opening on July 25, the film about 10 Korean and Chinese thieves plotting to steal a diamond in Macao has demonstrated explosive ticket power, topping the 5 million mark in 10 days and the 10 million barrier in 22 days.
In ticket sales, "The Thieves" recorded about 93.56 billion won (US$84 million), followed by "The Host" with 78.5 billion won and "Haeundae," another Korean film, with 81.9 billion won, according to official box-office figures by the Korean Film Council.
Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" (2009) sits on top of local box-office sales with 13.62 million viewers.(Yonhap)