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Hollywood comedy ‘The Intern’ tops S. Korean box office

October 5, 2015

Actress Anne Hathaway poses for a picture ahead of a special screening of “The Intern”, on Sept. 22, 2015, in New York. (Yonhap file photo)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — “The Intern” rose to the top of the local box office during the weekend, with two South Korean films closely trailing behind the Hollywood comedy, data showed Monday.

Starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, the film collected 532,784 admissions on 659 screens across the country for three days from Friday, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.

“The Intern” is the story of a 70-year-old widower who becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site founded and run by a 30-year-old woman.

The Hollywood film dropped the Korean historical drama, “The Throne,” which drew 492,528 moviegoers over the weekend, to second place, the data showed.

The film depicts King Yeongjo during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), who locked his only son and crown prince Sado in a rice chest and starved him to death, deeming the heir in his 20s unfit to rule.

In terms of sales, “The Intern” accounted for 26.7 percent of the total box office, with “The Throne” taking up 23.7 percent, according to the council.

A South Korean comedy film, “The Accidental Detective,” took third place, attracting 472,538 viewers, or 23.1 percent, of the total.

The film, which stars top actor Kwon Sang-woo, tells the story of a comic book rental shop owner who is into mystery fiction and a veteran detective.

Coming in fourth was the American action thriller, “Maze Runner: Scorch Trials,” with 191,527 viewers, followed by the Korean action film “Veteran,” which so far has been seen by 13.34 million people.