Kim Hye Yoon's 'The Plot' Tops Ticket Sales

The horror film "Salmokji," starring Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won, has topped the overall advance ticket sales charts just one day before its release, emerging as a dark horse for the spring cinema season. According to the Korean Film Council's integrated computer network, as of the morning of April 7th, "Salmokji" recorded an advance ticket sales rate of 25.6%, surpassing "Project Hail Mary" and "The King and the Clown."

"Salmokji" is a horror film that depicts the story of a film crew who head to a reservoir to reshoot a bizarre figure captured on road view, only to encounter an unknown entity in the dark, deep water. Audiences who saw the film at a preview screening before its release are praising its realistic horror direction, with reviews stating, "The immersion was so great, I watched it without realizing time was passing," and "The tension created by the acting, sound effects, and direction is top-notch." Positive reactions to the ScreenX viewing experience, along with vivid reviews like "The very setting of 'Salmokji' itself is suffocatingly tense," are heightening anticipation.

Furthermore, "Salmokji" has surpassed 60,000 pre-sale tickets as of the day before its release, raising expectations for its box office performance. This figure significantly exceeds the same period record for "Gonjiam" (approximately 23,000 tickets), which drew 2.68 million viewers, and it is noteworthy for recording the highest pre-sale ticket volume for a Korean horror film since "The Medium" in 2021.

Audiences are sharing vivid reviews of their horror experience, such as "Even watching with my eyes half-closed, the movie scenes vividly come to mind... I was screaming, and then the movie was over," "It was a thrilling Korean horror movie from beginning to end," and "I was getting goosebumps until the very end," hinting at the extreme horror that "Salmokji" will deliver.

"Salmokji" is scheduled to be released on April 8, 2026.