'Colony' gains 3 million viewers in just 10 days

Local zombie thriller "Colony" surpassed its break-even point, drawing a cumulative audience of 3 million viewers in just 10 days.

According to the Korean Film Council’s integrated ticketing system on Saturday, Colony recorded a total of 3,000,058 moviegoers as of 4:58 p.m. that day.

The movie's box-office momentum surpasses that of "The King’s Warden," February’s historical epic that drew over 16 million viewers and ranks as the second most-watched film in Korean history. 

To celebrate the milestone, director Yeon Sang-ho and the cast shared handwritten thank-you messages and commemorative photos through the film’s official channels, expressing their gratitude to audiences.

“Colony” is the latest of Yeon's zombie thrillers, which include megahit “Train to Busan” (2016). It follows a biotechnology professor — Se-jeong, played by Jun Ji-hyun — and a group of survivors who fight to escape a building quarantined due to a virus outbreak. The movie was also invited to the out-of-competition Midnight Screening section of the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]