Choi Min-sik's The Intern Ends Odyssey's 42-Day Box Office Reign on Day One

The Intern opened at No. 1 in Korean theaters on September 16, drawing approximately 61,000 admissions to claim 31.5% of daily revenue and end Christopher Nolan's Odyssey run of 42 straight days at the top. It is the first Korean-language film to lead the full box office in roughly 50 days, a stretch that had seen Odyssey and several Hollywood imports hold the summit.

The film stars Choi Min-sik as Giho, a 37-year veteran of the workforce who comes out of retirement to join a fashion startup as a silver intern, and Han So-hee as Seonwoo, the company's three-year CEO who has to figure out what to do with him. The premise is a remake of the 2015 Nancy Meyers film of the same name, which starred Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway in the same roles. Director Kim Do-young, whose previous feature What If We came out in 2025, takes the original's office-warmth template and grounds it in a specifically Korean generational divide.

The casting drew attention well before release for the pairing of Choi, one of the most decorated actors in Korean cinema, with Han, whose trajectory since My Name and The World of the Married has made her one of the industry's most-watched performers. Early audience scores reflect that interest translating into satisfaction: the film holds a 95% rating on CGV's Egg Index, based on verified ticket-buyer reviews, and a 9.0 on Lotte Cinema's scale. Reactions have focused particularly on the chemistry between the two leads and on the film's warmer emotional register.

Odyssey still leads advance bookings

Odyssey, which opened on August 5 and had already surpassed 10 million cumulative admissions to become the second Korean film of 2026 to cross that threshold after The Man Who Lives with the King, added another 41,000 viewers on the 16th. Its total now stands at approximately 10.92 million, putting it within range of the 11 million mark. Notably, Odyssey was shot entirely on IMAX film cameras, and much of its box office strength has been driven by premium-format bookings.

As of 9 a.m. on the 17th, Odyssey led advance ticket sales with a 22.4% share and around 121,000 pre-sold seats, suggesting the Nolan film still has strong momentum in the days ahead. The Intern sat third in advance bookings at 13.0% and roughly 70,000 tickets.

Second in advance sales was Assassin(s), opening September 23, with 17.7% and approximately 95,000 reserved seats. Directed by Hur Jin-ho, the film is based on the 1974 assassination attempt on First Lady Yuk Young-soo during a Liberation Day ceremony, and stars Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Min-ho.

Whether The Intern's opening-day advantage holds through the Chuseok holiday period is the question the Korean industry will be watching closely. The film enters a competitive window, but a 95% audience score on opening day is the kind of signal that tends to sustain word-of-mouth through a holiday corridor.