Collectors (film)

Collectors (Korean: 도굴; RR: Dogul; lit. 'Grave Robbery') is a 2020 South Korean heist action comedy film directed by Park Jung-bae and produced by Hwang Dong-hyuk. The film starring Lee Je-hoon, Jo Woo-jin, Shin Hye-sun and Im Won-hee,^[4] tells the caper story of a grave robbery taking place in the heart of Seoul.^[2]

Collectors
Theatrical release poster
Hangul	도굴
Hanja	盜掘
RR	Dogul
MR	Togul
Directed by	Park Jung-bae
Screenplay by	Ryu Sun-gyu
Produced by	Hwang Dong-hyuk[1]
Starring	Lee Je-hoon Jo Woo-jin Shin Hye-sun Im Won-hee
Cinematography	Kim Seong-an
Edited by	Nam Na-young
Music by	Dalpalan
Production company	Siren Pictures
Distributed by	CJ Entertainment
Release date	November 4, 2020 (2020-11-04)[2]
Running time	114 minutes
Country	South Korea
Language	Korean
Box office	US$12.6 million[3]

The film released on November 4, 2020,^[5] opened at the top of the local box office, as it sold about 80,000 tickets and grossed 701.6 million KRW (estimated US$626,916) on the opening day.^[6]

As of January 2, 2021, Collectors is in 13th place, with a gross of US$12.43 million and 1.52 million admissions, among all the films released in South Korea in the year 2020.^[7]

Synopsis

Kang Dong-goo (Lee Je-hoon) is a genius robber with a unique touch and intuition. He works with antiquated burial place mural expert, Dr. Jones (Jo Woo-jin) and legendary shoveling master, Sapdari (Im Won-hee). Curator Yoon (Shin Hye-sun), an antiques expert, offers an appealing but daring heist idea to Kang Dong-goo.^[8]

Cast

• Lee Je-hoon is Kang Dong-goo, a genius robber with a unique touch and intuition.^[9]
• Jo Woo-jin as Dr. Jones, an expert in tomb mural robbery.
• Shin Hye-sun as Yoon Se-hee, a curator.
• Im Won-hee as Shovel Leg, named after his legendary shoveling skills.
• Song Young-chang as Sang-gil
• Joo Jin-mo as Man-gi
• Lee Sung-wook as Gwang-chul
• Park Se-wan as Hye-ri
• Park Jin-woo as Chief Oh

Production

In March 2019, Lee Je-hoon was confirmed to play the protagonist in the film.^[10] In May 2019, Shin Hye-sun's appearance was confirmed in the film.^[11]

Release

Collectors was invited at Fantasia International Film Festival to screen the film. The three-week festivals was held from August 5 to 25, 2021 in Montreal. The film was screened in Canadian Premiere section on August 17, 2021.^[12]

Reception

Box office

The film released on November 4, 2020, opened at top of local box office, as it sold about 80,000 tickets and grossed 701.6 million ₩ (around US$626,916).^[6] It remained no.1 film on Korean box office for consecutive three weeks from November 8 to November 22, 2020.^[13]

According to Korean Film Council data†, it is at 11th place among all the Korean films released in the year 2020, with gross of US$12.15 million and 1.54 million admissions, as of January 3, 2021.^[14]

Admissions Based on the Integrated Computer Network for Cinema Admission Tickets
As of	Cumulative admissions	Ref.
February 23, 2021	1,545,281 persons	[3][15]

Admissions (persons) as of respective weekend date
Week ending	Admissions (cumulative)[13]	Notes
As of January 24, 2021[update]	1,544,928	Weekend:529
As of January 17, 2021[update]	1,543,278	Weekend:3,243
As of January 10, 2021[update]	1,537,801	Weekend:3,970
As of January 3, 2021[update]	1,530,885	Weekend:7,371
As of December 27, 2020[update]	1,511,574	Weekend:18,033
As of December 20, 2020[update]	1,481,363	Weekend:16,494
As of December 13, 2020[update]	1,452,176	Weekend:15,017
As of December 6, 2020[update]	1,423,700	Weekend:26,863
As of November 29, 2020[update]	1,369,546	Weekend:42,828
As of November 22, 2020[update]	1,276,614	No.1 at BO
As of November 15, 2020[update]	1,001,230
As of November 8, 2020[update]	565,503

Critical response

Going by Korean review aggregator Naver Movie Database, the film holds an approval rating of 8.48 from the audience.^[16]