Pursuits

Can a Korean Sci-Fi Movie About a Train Reinvent Hollywood's Distribution Model?

Tilda Swinton in SnowpiercerPhotograph by Weinstein Company via Everett Collection
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One of the most talked-about action blockbusters of the summer isn’t even being released by a major studio.

Snowpiercer, the English-language science-fiction thriller by Korean director Bong Joon-ho, opened on just eight screens against Transformers: Age of Extinction two weeks ago, racking up an impressive $171,187—a glowing $21,398 per screen—for the weekend ended June 29. The movie about a futuristic high-speed train hurtling through an uninhabitable Earth expanded to 250 screens over the July Fourth weekend and made a solid $1 million, surpassing a $4,000 per-screen average.