[HanCinema's News] "Pipeline" Leads South Korean Releases at Box Office

The ensemble oil heist film "Pipeline" has outperformed a new slate of largely independent releases to take the top stop for South Korean films at the domestic box office. "Pipeline" is the only bright spot for South Korean films this past weekend, with the box office otherwise being dominated by foreign movies. "Pipeline" had the third spot overall, and was the only South Korean film in the top ten.

Advertisement

The total figures for "Pipeline" in its first four days is 89,329 admissions. The figure, while modest, is decent given the stiff competition from big budget American films and the as-yet COVID-19 depressed South Korean film market. "Pipeline" has also enjoyed fairly positive responses from online commenters, with many claiming the crime thriller was well-suited to theatrical distribution and possessing of both unique concept as well as execution.

"Pipeline" had been filmed back in 2019 but languished indefinitely without a release following the COVID-19 epidemic ravaging the South Korean film market. An opportunity for release presented itself when leading man Seo In-guk started appearing on television as the lead in "Doom at Your Service" on tvN. His status as headliner for "Pipeline" has done much to draw interest to the project from his fans.

Written by William Schwartz