Director Choi Dong-hoon's "The Thieves" has set a new record by attracting the most number of viewers for a homegrown movie in Korean box-office history.
Showbox Mediaplex, the distributor of "The Thieves," said on Tuesday that 13.020 million people had watched the movie as of 2 p.m., according to box office data. This eclipses the previous record set by Bong Joon-ho's disaster flick "The Host," which drew 13.019 million moviegoers in 2006.
The film set the record 70 days after it was released, taking 36 days less than "The Host." The crime flick, which had the biggest opening day in Korea on July 25, drew 1 million viewers in three days and 10 million in 22 days.
Although audiences began to dwindle last month, the film still managed to attract 20,000 viewers over Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving.
However it has yet to beat the Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar," which drew a total audience of 13.624 million when it was released here in 2009.
