'Exhuma' summons record number of moviegoers for release day in 2024

  Occult thriller “Exhuma” has become 2024’s film to beat, shattering local opening day records for recent box office hits including “Wonka” (2023) and “12.12: The Day” (2023).   A total of 330,189 tickets for the movie was sold on its theater release on Thursday, according to the Korean Film Council on Friday.     This is the biggest opening day for a film at the box office in 2024 as of February, beating “Wonka,” which had 44,328 viewers on its release in Korean theaters on Jan. 31.   The horror film also beat the record held by “The Wailing” (2016), a commercial and critical success that also dealt with shamanistic themes in the horror occult genre, which had around 310,000 viewers on its opening day; and “12.12: The Day,” which had slightly over 200,000.   The horror film stars “Oldboy” actor Choi Min-sik along with Kim Go-eun, Yoo Hae-jin and Lee Do-hyun, who makes his first silver screen appearance.   Kim plays Hwa-rim, a shaman who, along with her partner medium Bong-gil played by Lee, receives a request from a Korean family in the United States who are plagued by hauntings. Deeming the issue to have stemmed from the family’s ancestors, the duo, along with a feng shui expert and an undertaker, exhume the family ancestors’ grave. But after something escapes from the coffin, unsettling events including deaths and possessions occur.   “Exhuma” is director Jang Jae-hyun’s third film that he directed and wrote, following “The Priests” (2015) and “Svaha: The Sixth Finger” (2019).   The film premiered at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, or Berlinale, with a screening on Feb. 16. It was invited to the Forum section, which showcases experimental films, an honor director Bong Joon-ho’s “Snowpiercer” (2013) and Kim Tae-yong’s “Late Autumn” (2010) received in the past.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]