You know the funny thing? China's Hero was # 1 . . . for last weekend's U.S. box-office haul; don't necessarily look at the revenue . . . think about the fact that a lot of people in the U.S. saw this film over the weekend. Now, before you say "duh," figure that the version shown was a SUBTITLED version (so much for the conventional wisdom, then, that U.S. audiences are written off as subtitled-challenged).
I dunno 'bout where you're at, but, there very well might be a momentum stirring for Asian films because of Hero's release here in Hawai'i (where it seemed like everyone EXCEPT for me saw Hero last weekend). With Taegukgi's release for this week, I can only wonder what the # 1 film in the islands, at least, might be . . .
Is that the dawn of East Asian film availability at America's multi-plexes that I see on the horizon?
I haven't seen "Taegukgi" yet, though I have seen "Hero" twice ; and I've gotta say, it is an amazing, visually beautiful film, that is equally as philosophical, intelligent, and thought-provoking, as it is an awesome martial arts movie for it's superbly crafted fight scenes, and cinematics. This movie is true art. I would've gone to see "Taegukgi" if the theater hadn't been full. I think this movie will be a huge hit in Hawaii at least, but probably not on the national level.
I doubt "taegukgi" and Asian cinema will be making any huge impact on the American film industry anytime soon, although you never know, with breakthrough hits like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". I don't think anyone ever expected that movie to gross about 126 million in the US, but it somehow happened. If there is to be an Asian film explosion, which I doubt, I think it was that film that really opened the doors to any other Asian films. However, I don't think "taegukgi" is going to be a huge number one hit like the likes of "Hero". A lot of people in the US don't even know that it's out or that it even exists and for them, Korean cinema is a completely new concept which they've yet to accept. Sure, now after all these years, they've come to accept Chinese film, but only to a certain extent. "Hero" isn't a big hit because it's Chinese, it's a hit because it's a Chinese martial arts film. Most Americans only think of Asian cinema right now as being martial arts films, and that they only make those kinds of films in Asia. It's going to take a while, if ever, for them to finally accept that there actually are other types of films out of Asia, and before they are accepted as part of the mainstream. I think right now, films such as "Taegukgi" will still only reach their niche audience, and that is Korean Americans, who are flocking to see this film because of what they've heard and about its success in South Korea. I doubt this film is going to reach many people outside of the Korean American group though, or people who are now interested in Korean culture through Korean dramas, and it can't become a huge hit just from their attendance. They may be a growing group, but it's still not enough to make the film a huge hit. But then again you never know. This film could do to Korean cinema, what "Crouching Tiger..." did for Chinese cinema, or at least Chinese Martial Arts films. It's going to take a little more than that though to really breach the American market, who is generally uncaring to films that are not American, and are thus labelled into the obscure "foreign" category, and only the artsy crowd will watch. I think the success is just exclusive to "Hero", because it is a martial arts/action flick, which is now an accepted norm for Chinese/Asian films, for now anyway. The US moviegoing audience still isn't ready for the Korean film revolution, IMO.