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'Secret Reunion' Holds Grip at Box Office

By Lee Hyo-won
Staff Reporter

"Secret Reunion", about a close-knit friendship between North and South Korean spies, is holding tightly onto the No. 1 spot at the box office for the third straight week.

The film, starring top stars Song Kang-ho and Gang Dong-won, attracted 31.9 percent of moviegoers ― 594,977 viewers at 526 screens across the country ― over the weekend, from Feb. 19 to 21.

Since opening on Feb. 4, it became the first domestic film to top the international smash "Avatar", which had ranked first for eight consecutive weeks. "Secret Reunion" retained the top spot through the Lunar New Year holiday and has drawn close to 3.5 million viewers as of Monday, according to the Korean Film Council.

The second feature film by critically acclaimed director Jang Hoon is about an unlikely "bromance" that blooms between two foes. A fired National Intelligence Service agent and a deserted spy from Pyongyang try to pry secrets from each other, only to discover that they are highly compatible buddies.

Meanwhile, "Avatar" moved down one spot to No.5 but remains among the top movies for the second month, having added 173,642 more viewers to its record over the weekend. So far more than 12.8 million tickets for the movie have been sold in Korea.

The Hollywood fantasy film "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" came in second for weekend box office ratings by attracting 16.1 percent of moviegoers (300,663 viewers at 345 theaters). The film, about ancient Greek gods battling among 21st-century urbanites, has so far sold 1.28 million tickets.

Kim Yun-jin's heart-wrenching drama "Harmony" drew in 224,150 viewers over the weekend (2.45 million total), but yielded its spot to the opening of "Parallel Life". The mystery thriller starring Ji Jin-hee ranked third with 246,189 moviegoers at 302 theaters (13.2 percent of weekend box office sales), the most among weekend premieres.

The animation "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" came in sixth (127,595 moviegoers), followed by Richard Gere's "Hachiko: A Dog's Story" (49,790 people). Next in line were Chow Yun-fat's "Confucius", the animation "One Piece Film: The Strong World" and "The Wolfman".

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