Lee Min-ho's 1st China movie tops sales

Lee Min-ho

By Park Jin-hai

"Bounty Hunters," a mega action film starring Lee Min-ho, grossed 9 billion won ($7.8 million) on the first day of its release in China, signaling a major box office success.

The movie opened in 52,000 theaters nationwide and marked a ticket reservations share of 26.7 percent, topping the Chinese box office, said Lee's agency Starhaus Entertainment.

The action-adventure film, jointly produced by Korea and China, is Lee's China debut. With a budget of 30 billion won, the blockbuster movie tells the story of five bounty hunters who collaborate to search for a hotel bomber.

Lee plays the lead role of Yi San, a smart and savvy man who has great martial arts skills.

Between July 1 and 3, the movie earned 20.7 billion won ($17.3 million) in ticket sales, according to data from Entgroup, a Beijing-based film data company.

"The local response has been really strong. Bounty Hunters topped the most-searched terms on Baidu and Weibo," said a Starhaus Entertainment official.

It is scheduled to be released in England, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan after its China premiere.

Meanwhile, Lee will be returning to the small screen in Korea in the SBS drama tentatively named "The Legend of the Blue Sea" with costar Jun Ji-hyun in November.

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