'Lord of the Rings 3' Sets New Foreign Film Record

'Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' has shattered the record for the most-watched foreign film in Korea, having drawn 5.54 million viewers nationwide so far. It easily surpassed the previous record holder and its prequel, 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,' which drew 5.5 million viewers. Last weekend alone 81,000 people saw the film.

While many sequels fail to do as well as the first film in their respective series, 'Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' broke the jinx, with only a matter of time before it draws a full 6 million viewers.

Choe Mi-suk of Movie Room, an advertising company, said that 'Return of the King' drew as many viewers in 27 days as the first film of the trilogy, 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' drew in three months. She said that the drawing power of the film, which drew 2 million after only 7 days, appears only to be getting stronger.

The reason the film is doing so well, despite being a rather tough sit at over three hours, is film's ability to pull fans back to the theater for a second -- or ever third -- viewing.

On the movie's Web site, Internet users are leaving an endless stream of posts saying, 'I've seen it two or three times.' Some of the more passionate fans have left posts saying that they have bought a whole week's worth of tickets. Moviegoers who have already seen the film are again being drawn to the theater, fearing that there may not be many chances left to see 'Return of the King' on the wide screen.

(Sports Chosun Cheon Sang-hee)