The box office records of the four rising stars of Korean movies, Jang Keun Suk, Song Joong Ki, Yoo Ah In, and Lee Je Hoon, also named as “Chungmuro F4,” are now in. Some of them won both favorable reviews and a box office hit, but the rest didn’t. This article emphasizes on their current box office records and reviews of critics.
Yoo Ah In is having the happiest time among F4 because Wandeugi, which he plays the title role, has been topping the box office for four weeks, attracting over 4,000,000 audiences. Wandeugi is a movie about a kid who has a father with spinal disability and a Filipino mother and his naughty teacher, Dong Joo. Although there’s no striking event, it is continuously attracting the audience only with two actors’ acting and sensibilities.
Yoo, who has been a rising star for a long time, eventually became a movie star through Wandeugi. He has appeared in many dramas such as Sharp, Boys of Tomorrow, Isn’t It Great, and Strongest Chil Woo, but hasn’t attracted much attention.
He proved his potential through a movie Antique Bakery, but Sky and Ocean gave him a tough time. He was re-highlighted by Sungkyunkwan Scandal. He played the role of Geoloh, creating a nickname of “Geoloh obsession.”
It was first expected that Yoo’s popularity would dwindle after the drama was over; however, it carried over to the movies. Wandeugi was more than enough to establish trust that he can play the lead role in commercial films.
Yoon prays for teacher Dong Joo to be dead but eventually says thank you. The audience is enthusiastically responding to his growth in movies.
He is a trouble-making student as born to a father with spinal disability and a Filipino mother. The character is described as a troublemaker with good nature. So, he expressed the image of a problem kid in Yoo Ah In way, unlike described in any other movies. His work in collaboration with Kim Yoon Suk was great, as well.
He is currently a strong candidate for a drama Speed as the lead role alongside Lee Jung Jae. If the drama becomes another hit after Sungkyunkwan Scandal and Wandegi, his popularity will be firmly established.
Jang Keun Suk shows his presence felt in You Are Pet. This is a romantic comedy film based on a Japanese comic book of the same title. It tells a story about a cute boy who wants to be a pet of a successful but lonely woman in her 30′s. He tries to catch the female audience’s eyes by dancing, singing, and acting cute.
As the Hallyu star to succeed Bae Yong Jun, Jang’s film was invested by Japan and is going to be released in January next year.
However, there’s nothing more special after that. You Are Pet has only attracted about 300,000 audiences by the second week. Even if it attracts a lot more, it would not be easy to attract more than 700,000. One of the reasons for the low box office turn out is because the directing was quite bad but also Jang played a type of character that has been already seen so many times on TV dramas. He hasn’t shown anything special yet except for bringing the familiar character into the movie screen. If he wants to establish his position as an actor other than a Hallyu star in the movie industry, he might want to think about why he has failed from his previous films such as One Missed Call Final and Baby and Me.
Song Joong Ki’s first movie hasn’t been showing a good number yet even though he’s showing a lot of his charm. Released on the same day with You Are Pet, it only attracted 300,000 for two weeks, which is actually a box office failure.
Many A Little Romance is a story that describes the reality young people born around 1988 in Korea through a romantic comedy. Song plays a man who cannot do anything with a girl because he is short of fifty Won. It is a type of character that could be frivolous but still looks lovable in the movie. However, it has attracted not many audiences. He has only showed his potential as a rising star in the movies, but still far from being a star.
Fortunately, Song had another chance to prove his ability on TV drama, Deep Rooted Tree and made people believe that there will be another chance for him later. Starring with Park Bo Young in Wolf Boy, this movie will be both an opportunity and a challenge for him to prove his potential as a movie actor.
Lee Je Hoon has appeared on many independent films such as The Plunderers and The Guard. He has already established his position in the commercial film industry through a movie The Front Line. In this movie, he plays the role of a patron commander who has been through a hell-like war and gave a strong impression to the audience alongside other actors such as Go Soo and Shin Ha Kyun.
He won the Best New Actor in Dae Jong Film Awards and Yung Pyung Film Awards. His films haven’t been very popular so far, but he has certainly received many reviews that he is a good actor. It is now the time for him to prove his potential as a movie star.
He was wise enough to choose Architecture Theory and The Fortune Teller, where he can build his career with other renowned actors. He will be the first one who settles down in Chungmuro if those two films succeed.
Source: Starnews
cr: en.korea.com, lovingjanggeunsuk
