“Roaring Currents,” Starring Choi Min Shik and Ryu Seung Ryong, Sets Box Office History

The movie, “Roaring Currents,” has been obliterating the Korean box office records for the past four days, essentially rewriting its history. On August 1, it set the record of having over one million viewers—two days after it had been released.

According to the box office records kept by the Korean Film Council, “Roaring Currents” had 1,228,751 viewers on August 2 alone. The cumulative number of viewers since its release is 3,505,426 viewers. These are the statistics that were recorded a mere four days after its release.

Having more than a million viewers in one day is the first time in history. The movie that was close to this was “Transformers 3” in 2011, where they gathered 956,500 viewers in a day. In present day 2014, “Roaring Currents” gathered 272,251 more viewers than that.

Not only are they setting the highest viewership rates, they are also breaking their own record day after day. On the day of its release, its record was at 682,845 viewers, which already surpassed the existing record. Then, the number of viewers per day consistently increased—first to 704,956, then to 866,374 and finally to 1,228,751.

Currently, they hold the title of fastest achievement of 1 million viewers (37 hours), fastest achievement of 2 million viewers (3 days after release), and fastest achievement of 3 million viewers (4 days after release). The cumulative total as of August 2 is more than 3.5 million viewers, which means that 4 million is just around the corner.

 “Roaring Currents” takes place in the year 1597, when General Lee Soon Shin defeated 330 enemy ships with only 12 of his own. Viewers have commented that not only was this move historically accurate, but was also entertaining due to its vivid portrayal of the battle in the seas. Actor Choi Min Shik received compliments on his perfect portrayal of General Lee Soon Shin, a character is filled with grief and dilemmas from witnessing the king’s abandonment of the seas, and the consequent accumulation of fear and uncertainty in his citizens as well as Joseon itself. Also starring in this movie are Ryu Seung Ryong, Lee Jung Hyun, Jin Goo, and Noh Min Woo among others.

Meanwhile, second in box office on August 2 was “How to Train Your Dragon 2” with 211,402 viewers. In third was “Gundo” with 197,461 viewers. The cumulative number of viewers for this day was 4,300,878.