Showbox's April 8 release holds No. 1 in box office for 20 days running
Water-ghost horror film "Salmokji: Whispering Water" has crossed 2 million admissions, the first homegrown fright flick to clear the bar in eight years.
The film's cumulative tally reached 2.02 million as of Tuesday morning, according to the Korean Film Council's box office tracker. The last Korean horror to pull it off was "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" in 2018.
Director Lee Sang-min's feature debut has topped the local box office every day since its April 8 opening. It is also the second Korean release to break 2 million ticket sales in 2026 after runaway hit "The King's Warden," which has racked up 16.4 million admissions to become the highest-grossing Korean film ever.
Starring K-drama favorite Kim Hye-yoon ("Lovely Runner," "No Tail to Tell") opposite Lee Jong-won, the film follows a street-view mapping crew sent to reshoot footage at a remote rural reservoir, where they run afoul of a ghost lurking in the water.
Distributor Showbox, fresh off "The King's Warden," took a swing on an April release in a market where horror is typically a summer play — and the bet has paid off.
The hype has spilled over onto social media, with moviegoers flocking to the actual reservoir in Yesan, South Chungcheong Province, where the film was shot.
Late-night crowds at the site swelled to the point that the local county government restricted access after dark starting April 14.
moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com
