Overview

• The film sold about 331,000 tickets on opening day in South Korea, accounting for 63.1% of admissions, according to KOBIS and the Korean Film Council.
• Opening-day turnout surpassed Park’s previous best, topping the 2016 debut of The Handmaiden.
• Early audience sentiment on Korea’s Naver portal registered a 6.60 score from 495 users as of Thursday morning, notably lower than the director’s recent titles.
• Adapted from Donald E. Westlake’s The Ax, the black comedy adds a contemporary thread on artificial intelligence to its story of a laid-off middle-aged worker.
• The release follows a Venice competition berth and Busan opening-night slot, and the film has been selected as South Korea’s official submission for the Academy Awards’ international feature race.