‘The Match‘, the film about Go legends Cho Hun-hyun and Lee Chang-ho, hit Netflix on May 8th after a bit of a bumpy release journey.
Even though it was originally supposed to debut straight on Netflix, the film’s premiere got delayed due to Yoo Ah-in’s drug controversy. Because of that, it ended up getting a theatrical release instead.
This movie, directed by Kim Hyung-joo, is inspired by the real-life rivalry between Go champions Cho Hun-hyun and Lee Chang-ho. “The Match” stars Lee Byung-hun as Cho Hun-hyun, with Yoo Ah-in playing Lee Chang-ho — and Kim Kang-hoon portraying his younger self.
It officially opened in theaters on March 26th and managed to draw in a solid 2,139,036 moviegoers, according to the Korea Film Council’s integrated computer network for box office admissions.
Among Korean films this year, ‘The Match’ came in third at the box office — just behind ‘Yadang: The Snitch’ and ‘Hitman 2’. Overall, it ranked fourth for the year.
The cast is pretty stacked too — alongside Lee Byung-hun and Yoo Ah-in, you’ve got Ko Chang-seok, Hyun Bong-sik, Moon Jeong-hee, Jo Woo-jin, and Jeon Mu-song all playing key roles.
It didn’t just pull in a crowd either — the film went beyond expectations. It beat its break-even point by surpassing 1.8 million viewers, which is no small feat.
The story centers on Cho Hun-hyun, played by Lee Byung-hun, who’s a legendary Go champion in South Korea. After losing to his own student, he pushes himself to reach the top again, driven by his intense competitive nature.
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