Showbox has strong EFM sales for Detective K

Major South Korean distributor Showbox Mediaplex has announced post-EFM sales on period action comedy Detective K: Secret Of Virtuous Widow to a slew of territories including Lens Media for China. The local box office hit also sold to Catchplay for Taiwan, J-Bics Film for Thailand and KSM for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Instead of waiting for sales to North America, Showbox is taking immediate advantage of the box office buzz in Korea and overseas Korean communities with revenue sharing deals. The company is screening the film in North America through exhibitor CGV America, starting with their cinemas in LA to open in 10 other cities including San Francisco, New Jersey, Atlanta, Washington and Vancouver. Showbox will also see Detective K released in Sydney, Australia through Minkyo.

“We decided to do this for a few select local and commercial titles. Timing is important and when films like this do well at the box office in Korea, it can benefit the box office from Korean communities overseas. Secret Reunion and Take Off did well for us like this, too,” says Sonya Kim, manager of Marketing & Festivals in Showbox’s International Business Team.

In the film, 18th century Joseon is shaken to the roots by the serial murder of magistrates. The king suspects the murders are politically related to high-ranking officials and secretly commissions Detective K to look into the case. Directed by Kim Sok-yun, the film stars Kim Myung-min and Han Ji-min.