Train To Busan sequel breaks Singapore box office record for Korean films in first week of cinemas reopening

SINGAPORE — It seems like Singaporeans are engaging in revenge-movie watching as cinemas reopened this week after being closed for more than three months – so much so that the current blockbuster flick, Train To Busan: Peninsula, has broken the box office record for Korean films despite social distancing measures in theatres.

The sequel to 2016’s zombie action hit, Train To Busan, pulled in S$147,000 in ticket sales in a single day when it opened in cinemas yesterday (15 July).

That is a record for opening day sales for Korean movies in Singapore, according to the film’s co-distributors, Clover Films, and Golden Village Pictures.

Golden Village said other Korean films with top opening-day sales in Singapore were Along With The Gods 2: The Last 49 Days (S$119,000), Train To Busan (S$75,000), Wishing Stairs (S$64,000) and The Battleship Island (S$56,000).

Starring Gang Dong-won, Lee Jung-hyun and Lee Re, the sequel set four years after Train To Busan tells the story of a survivor of the zombie outbreak who returns to the quarantined Korean peninsula to retrieve an abandoned truck but finds himself ambushed by zombies and a mysterious militia. He is saved by a woman and her family, and has to plan his escape from the peninsula once and for all.

Train To Busan was directed by Yeon Sang-ho, who also directed an animated film and the current live-action sequel set in the same universe.

The 2016 movie that began this zombie trilogy was lauded for its touching story about a father and his daughter set amid the beginning of a zombie outbreak. Gong Yoo played the leading role.

Train To Busan opened to S$75,000 on its first day in Singapore in 2016 and ended its run with S$5.35million, topping the charts to become the highest-grossing Korean movie in Singapore of all time.

Anti-COVID-19 measures at cinemas currently include temperature checks before entering cinemas and one-metre social distancing seat configurations.

Groups of up to a maximum of five persons are allowed to sit together. Cinemas must ensure there is a one-metre distance between different groups.

Each theatre hall is allowed a maximum of 50 patrons.

Patrons are required to have masks on at all times except when they are consuming food and beverages inside the cinema hall. After eating/drinking, patron should put masks back on.