South Korea film Master breaks even; maintains top position at box office

Singapore

WITHIN eight days of its official release, South Korean film Master surpassed its break-even point, based on an announcement by Spackman Entertainment Group early Thursday.

The crime-action film is produced by the South Korean film producer's indirect wholly owned subsidiary Zip Cinema Co Ltd.

Latest statistics from the Korean Film Council showed that Master recorded 3.8 million total ticket admissions with gross box office revenue of US$25.3 million as at Dec 28.

The film maintains its top position at the South Korean box office and continues to be released on at least 1,263 screens daily, capturing at least 40.98 per cent of the nation's market share of box office revenue since its official release on Dec 21 in South Korea.

Singapore-listed Spackman Entertainment also noted that Master was the highest grossing opening on the Christmas weekend box office chart in South Korea.

Master, which features three top South Korean actors Lee Byung-hun, Gang Dong-won and Kim Woo-bin, is slated to be screened in Singapore theatres around Jan 12 next year.

Directed by Cho Ui-seok, the film depicts the takedown of a charismatic swindler who committed a massive multibillion-dollar fraud.

Other films directed by Cho include Cold Eyes (2013), one of the top 10 films at the Korean box office in 2013. The Zip Cinema production grossed a total of 5.5 million tickets.

In a Dec 27 report, RHB Research raised its ticket admissions estimate from 7.5 million to 8.5 million, based on the strong performance by Master.

Spackman shares closed S$0.001 or 0.52 per cent lower to end at S$0.191 on Thursday. It was the third most active stock with 43.25 million shares changing hands.