“Gangnam 1970” is showing signs of becoming a megahit in the local market bringing in nearly 300,000 moviegoers in two days.

(OSEN)

According to industry data, nearly 130,000 people went to see Lee Min-ho’s new movie on Thursday -? the second day since its release -? to push up the total to 292,114.

The R-rated movie follows the lives of Lee Min-ho’s Kim Jong-dae and Kim Rae-won’s Baek Yong-ki.

The two are poor kids-turned-gangsters who hope to ride the waves of real estate development to the big time.

The movie, however, does not focus on the glamour of the rapid development of Korea in the 1970s but sheds light on the dark side of development driven by profit.

The movie has been the focus of much media attention in the run up to its release fueled in part by Lee and Kim, and in part by the director’s gritty take on reality as well as his uniquely realistic action scenes.

Aided by the hype, the movie clinched first place in advance ticket sales on Tuesday morning, according to data from the Korea Film Council.

On the day before the release, the movie carved up nearly 24 percent of the total ticket bookings in Korea, outpacing “Ode to My Father” (15.8 percent).

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)