A Korean film has broken the all-time record for first-day advance ticket sales in Japan. A re-edited director's cut of Heo Jin-ho's April Snow, starring BAE Yong-joon, will be released in Japan September 9th, a full year after its original theatrical run. When advance ticket sales began on July 7th, exceedingly long line-ups of mainly female ticket buyers forced tickets to go on sale two hours earlier than originally scheduled.
The Toho Cinemas at Roppongi Hills, Tokyo and Takatsuki, Osaka, where the director's cut screenings of April Snow will be held, reported first-day ticket sales of 5,800 and 3,200 respectively. This set an all-time record for first-day advance sales on a single film, Hollywood, domestic, or otherwise.
The original version of April Snow, distributed by UIP, was released on 400 screens across Japan last year, and holds the record as the highest number of prints made for a Japanese release. It went on to gross US$24.2 million, making it the second most successful Korean film of all time at the Japanese box-office, just behind A Moment to Remember.
The director's cut will feature completely new scenes, extended scenes, and even a different ending, for a total of 30 minutes extra footage. A deluxe DVD of the new version will be released shortly after on September 21st.
Actor Bae Yong-joon, or Yonsama as he is affectionately called by the Japanese, is a leading figure in the Korean New Wave, or Hallyu. He has a huge following among Japanese women, and it was reported that tour buses for the sole purpose of buying advance tickets were pre-arranged for those living outside Tokyo and Osaka.
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