Following its incredible showing at last weekend’s Academy Awards, Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite has seen a major uptick at the box office. Parasite made history by becoming the first foreign language film to win Best Picture, and it scored an additional three awards as well: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. Because of those four wins, Bong has tied with Walt Disney for the most Oscar wins in one night. Parasite’s big win was well-received, with Oscar attendees even demanding the Parasite crew got more time for their speeches at the end of the ceremony.
Parasite stands as one of the best-reviewed films of 2019, currently sitting at an astounding 99% on Rotten Tomatoes. The South Korean film follows the impoverished Kim family as they slowly integrate themselves into the lives of a wealthy family, the Parks, which leads to catastrophic events no one could have predicted. Ahead of the Oscars, Parasite was moviegoers’ top pick to win Best Picture in a survey conducted by Fandango, with Bong as their choice for Best Director.
According to Variety, Parasite’s weekend box office numbers have seen a 234% increase after earning $5.5 million. That massive increase is the biggest post-Oscars bump for a Best Picture winner within the last decade, surpassing the box office increase of last year’s winner, Green Book. Parasite’s domestic box office total to date is $44 million, while worldwide it has earned $175 million. This is an incredible showing for a foreign language film in the U.S., especially considering Parasite has been available on home video for several weeks now.
Parasite’s journey is far from over, with Bong developing a limited series based on the film for HBO alongside Adam McKay. This limited series reportedly won’t be a remake of the film. Instead, Bong hopes to further explore the themes of Parasite, such as economic inequality, and delve into the universe of the film. The most recent bit of news surrounding the Parasite limited series suggested Mark Ruffalo is in talks to star, though that has not been confirmed.
Parasite has been the biggest success story and best surprise to come out of the 2019 awards season. While some may have taken issue with a foreign language film winning Best Picture, this is a case of a very deserving film coming out on top. Parasite absolutely deserves all the acclaim it has received, and it’s clear that more and more audiences are discovering it thanks to those history-making wins. Oscar season might be over, but Parasite still has a lot of life in it.
More: Parasite: What The Scholar’s Stone Really Means
Source: Variety
