'The Grand Budapest Hotel' Proves a Sleeper Hit at Box-Office

Wes Anderson's latest film "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is expected to hit the 500,000-mark in cinema attendance this weekend. It was released here on March 20.

According to the Korean Film Council, it has attracted 461,662 moviegoers so far.

Among similar types of films in terms of genre and artistry, but excluding big-budget commercial films, Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" and the Irish musical "Once" were the most successful in Korea. They drew 350,000 and 220,000 moviegoers when they were released here in 2011 and 2007, respectively.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" was initially released on 67 screens and drew more moviegoers than either "Miss Granny" or "12 Years a Slave," despite each of those movies playing on nearly 200 screens.

The film steadily expanded its presence until it was being shown on 128 screens by its fifth day, and 233 screens after 10 days of its release. As of Wednesday, it outranked both the action thriller "3 Days to Kill," starring Kevin Costner, and the biblically-inspired epic "Noah" starring Russell Crowe at the box office.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is about the adventures of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between wars. Its star-studded cast featuring Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law, Adrien Brody and Tilda Swinton is one of the factors drawing moviegoers, as well as the director's imaginative flourishes, wit and astonishing set decorations.