‘Train To Busan’ Sequel ‘Peninsula’ Sets Record For Opening Day Since COVID-19 Outbreak

“Peninsula,” the highly anticipated continuation of the zombie trilogy started in 2016 with “Train to Busan,” succeeds with high ticket sales on its opening date in South Korea and continues to dominate on the second day despite the pandemic measures.

According to Soompi, the “severe” alert level for COVID-19 was raised in February in South Korea, effectively shutting down the movie theaters for months. After the threat alert level was lifted, another zombie-themed movie, “#ALIVE,” hit a record of 204,071 movie-goers on its first day, which is an impressive number amid the pandemic.

However, on July 15, as the “Peninsula” finally hit the theaters in South Korea, it quickly broke the records that “#ALIVE” have set in the box office with 352,010 ticket-sales tallied by the Korean Film Council on the first day of release.

The movie earned 2.92 billion won on its first day or approximately $2.43 million from 2,338 screens, translating to a revenue share of 94.7 percent among all films shown on the day.

Producer Lee Dong Ha commented on the news regarding the movie “Peninsula,” setting a new post-COVID-19 record. He said that the latest milestone for the zombie movie is meaningful since it was released in a difficult time. They will also keep track of the performance of the film in the next days.

Meanwhile, in Singapore, the movie “Peninsula” is also making a scene in the box office for the ‘Singapore opening-day record for a South Korean movie.’ The film proved its strong presence as it garnered $147,000, beating the opening-day record of the fantasy action movie “Along With the Gods 2: The Last 49 Days” in 2018 with $119,000.

The performance in theaters of the “Train to Busan” sequel directed by Yeon Sang-ho, starring Gang Dong-won and Lee Jung-Hyun, comes from the strict COVID-19 protocols with a limit of only 50 viewers allowed (wearing a mask) to enter the screening.

According to media sources, the “Peninsula” was produced with a budget of 16 billion won or $13.32 million and currently sold to 185 countries compared to 160 for “Train to Busan.”