"A Taxi Driver" emerged as the top grossing film in South Korea in 2017 as the year's cinema attendance reached 220 million.
Data from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) showed that "A Taxi Driver" is the No.1 film of 2017 with 12.18 million tickets sold and box office receipt of US$90.1 million with revenue share of 5.45 percent.
It set a record when it reached 10 million in total admissions, the only film released in Korea to achieve the feat.
The movie, released on August 2, stars Song Kang Ho and Thomas Kretschmann and is about a taxi driver who takes a German TV journalist from Seoul to Gwangju to cover the pro-democracy uprising in 1980.
It was South Korea's entry to the Foreign Language Film category for the 2018 Oscars but failed to make it to the shortlist announced in December.
A surprise entry is "Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds," which jumped to second place in the top 10 movies in 2017 despite the fact that it was released only last December 20. The film has grossed $64.22 million and sold $8.53 million tickets as of December 31.
"Confidential Assignment" finished in third place overall with 7.81 million in total admissions and revenue of $59.95 million in 2017 since its release on January 18 last year.
In fourth place is the Hollywood flick "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which sold 7.25 million tickets and earned $55.57 million at the Korean box office last year.
"The Outlaws" grabbed fifth place with 6.87 million in total admissions and $52.94 million in ticket sales.
The sixth to tenth places are: "The Battleship Island," 6.59 million tickets sold, $47.48 million in revenues; "Midnight Runners," 5.65 million, $41.71 million; "The King," 5.31 million, $40.87 million; "Beauty and the Beast," 5.13 million, $39.6 million; and "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," 4.94 million, $38.52 million.
Cinema attendance in South Korea in 2017 stood at 219.8 million, an increase by 2.84 million from 2016.
