Despite the twists and turns before and after its release, such as the drunk driving of lead actor Kwak Do-won and the boycott movement related to director Kwak Kyung-taek‘s younger brother, People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Kyu-tae, the movie ‘Firefighter’ is doing well, maintaining its top spot at the box office. Many say that this ‘reverse box office success’ was possible thanks to actor Joo Won’s sincere acting and effort, who shouldered the burden of the lead role alone.

‘Firefighter’, which rose to first place at the box office upon its release on the 4th, fell to second place on the 7th, the 4th day of screening, but returned to first place after 2 days, and has maintained its top spot for 8 days, surpassing the global hit Disney animation ‘Moana 2’. With a cumulative audience of 1,844,944, it ranked 6th among Korean films released this year.

‘Firefighter’ was considered the weakest Korean film released this month, having only been released in theaters 4 years after its 2020 wrap-up due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the drunk driving incident of its ‘number 1 lead’ Kwak Do-won.

‘Firefighter’ also became the target of some ‘boycott movements’ after it was revealed that director Kwak Kyung-taek‘s younger brother is People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Gyu-tae, who opposed the impeachment of President Yoon Seok-yeol. In relation to this, Director Kwak personally expressed his disappointment with the choice of his younger brother, Assemblyman Kwak, and made an official statement supporting the impeachment of President Yoon.

Regarding the background of overcoming a series of adversities, both inside and outside of the theater industry, there is analysis that it is thanks to the efforts to convey the sincerity of the film, such as conducting a donation challenge to improve the treatment of firefighters, as well as the activities of Joo Won, who returned to the theater for the first time in 9 years since ‘That Dude’ in 2015 through ‘Firefighter’.

In the drama, Joo Won plays the role of rookie firefighter Cheol-woong, delicately portraying the passion and anxiety of a freshman in society who gains various experiences in a life-or-death field. In particular, the audience’s response is that the ending scene, where Cheol-woong loses all his colleagues in an accident and expresses his emotions, is expressed with restrained emotions, balancing the film that could easily end up being melodramatic.

After the release, he appeared in entertainment programs such as ‘Amazing Saturday’, ‘Jeon Hyun-moo Plan’, ‘This Can‘t Happen in the World’, and actively participated in promotion, even filling in Kwak Do-won’s ‘promotion gap’. In an interview, he caught attention by giving each reporter a small fire extinguisher as a gift to emphasize the film‘s message.


Reporter Seungmi Lee smlee@donga.com