“Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” attracted 982,905 moviegoers to become a surprise No. 1 in its first weekend at the box office, data showed Monday.

The low-budget Korean horror film tells the story of seven young people teaming up to experience an abandoned former psychiatric hospital near Seoul, which CNN called one of the freakiest places in the world.

A still from “Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum” (CJ Entertainment)

Sliding from its No. 1 opening weekend is Hollywood action blockbuster “Pacific Rim Uprising” in the fifth-place spot with 70,400 views, according to the box-office tally from the Korean Film Council.

Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi fantasy “Ready Player One” debuted at No. 2, selling 741,513 tickets in South Korean theaters.

The domestic romance movie “Be With You” dropped a spot to third, seen by 253,298 people in its third weekend.

The movie starring So Ji-sub and Son Ye-jin is a remake of the highly successful 2004 Japanese movie of the same name about a mother who returns to her family a year after her death.

Coming in fourth was the new Korean release “Seven Years of Night.” Starring Ryu Seung-ryong and Jang Dong-gun, the local thriller by Choo Chang-min revolves around a man who killed a young girl while driving seven years ago and the girl’s father who begins to plan his revenge. The movie is based on a best-selling novel of the same title by Jeong Yoo-jeong.











(Yonhap)