Koreans drink 'Thirst' at box office

'Wolverine' can't cut into top place

By HAN SUNHEE

Park Chan-wook's vampire pic "Thirst" beat "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" at the Korean box office this weekend, grossing $4.1 million on more than 600 screens over four days.

Pic sold 180,000 tickets in its opening day, the biggest opening score among local films released this year. Distributor CJ Entertainment announced that it passed the 1 million ticket sales mark Monday.

"Thirst" will play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, which has given the pic a huge boost locally.

"X-Men Origins: Wolverine" took in $2.5 million on 559 screens.

Local films are going through a renaissance after losing ground to Hollywood in recent years.

Helmer Tae-ra Shin's comedy "My Girlfriend Is an Agent" slipped to No. 3 in its second week, after topping the chart last weekend. Distributed by Lotte Entertainment, pic added $1.9 million, grossing $7.2 million.

Another local pic, helmer Park Hee-gon's "Insadong Scandal," opened at No. 4, grossing $1.7 million on 397 screens. Art fraud actioner is set in Seoul's Insadong gallery district.

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