The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Box Office

By Claire Lee

Published : June 1, 2012 - 18:31

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The Concubine (Korea)

Opening June 6

Thriller. Directed by Kim Dai-seung. Set in the Joseon era, a ruthless queen mother and former concubine (Park Ji-young) tries to concoct a plan to dethrone the current king (Jeong Chan), with whom she has no blood ties. Her goal is to somehow replace the king with her timid biological son, Prince Seong-won (Kim Dong-wook). Meanwhile, the prince falls in love at first sight with Hwa-yeon (Jo Yeo-jung), an aristocrat’s daughter, during his jaunt outside the royal palace. But Hwa-yeon is already in love with a commoner named Kwon-yu (Kim Min-jun). Hwa-yeon and Kwon-yu try to escape, but suffer tragic consequences as their plan fails. Hwa-yeon becomes a concubine at the royal palace, while Kwon-yu is punished with castration. 

Runway Cop (Korea)

Opened May 31

Comedy. Directed by Shin Tae-ra. Detective Cha Cheol-soo (Kang Ji-hwan) does not care about the way he looks or what others think of him. He is fat and does not wash enough. His hair is always greasy and his clothes smell. But when he is assigned to a drug case in Korea’s flashy fashion industry, he is ordered to lose at least 20 kilograms and pretend to be a fashion model to investigate undercover. 

Granny in 1st Grade (Korea)

Opened May 24

Drama. Directed by Jin Gwang-gyo. Nan-ee, a 70-year-old illiterate woman, lives with her granddaughter in her rural hometown. She has just lost her son in a car accident and is still grieving. One day, Nan-ee finds out her late son left her a letter while he was alive. Anxious to find out what’s in the letter, Nan-ee decides to learn how to read and write. At first, she makes her 7-year-old granddaughter, Dong-ee, teach her the basic Korean alphabet. But as it turns out that Dong-ee hasn’t fully mastered the alphabet, either, Nan-ee decides to attend elementary school alongside her own granddaughter.

Taste of Money (Korea)

Opened May 17

Drama. Directed by Im Sang-soo. Ruthless chaebol exec Geum-ok (Yoon Yeo-jeong) lives with her aloof husband, daughter and ambitious secretary Young-jak (Kim Kang-woo). Guem-ok strictly believes money is the solution for everything, and doesn’t feel guilty when she commits immoral and corrupt deeds with her business. Young-jak does all the dirty work for Guem-ok, while she keeps her name clean. Meanwhile, Nami (Kim Hyo-jin), Geum-ok’s only daughter who despises her parents, finds herself attracted to her mother’s secretary. Young-jak, on the other hand, slowly loses his initial focus and is consumed by materialism.

Everything about My Wife (Korea)

Opened May 17

Drama. Comedy. Directed by Min Kyu-dong. Doo-hyeon (Lee Sun-kyun) is unhappily married to Jeong-in (Im Soo-jung), his beautiful yet ill-tempered wife. After enduring Jeong-in’s unpredictable and eccentric behavior, Doo-hyun desperately seeks ways to divorce her. The timid husband is too afraid to bring up the topic of separation to his temperamental wife. Instead, he decides to hire a womanizer to romance her -- hoping she will ask for a divorce once she falls in love with the man.