Oscars 2020: 'Parasite' Conquers Box Office With $33 Million Earnings

Bong Joon-Ho’s dark comedy “Parasite” has been creating waves since its premiere at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. Since then, the movie has won numerous awards and made its way to the Academy Awards, too. But how is the movie faring at the box office?

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the South Korean film has earned more than $33 million at the box office and surpassed all the expectations. Before the release, many experts believed that the movie will be able to make $20 million in the U.S., but it seems the accolades the movie has been getting have encouraged the moviegoers to see it on the big screen.

In a survey, it has been found that more than half of the people who watched “Parasite” in theaters are between the ages of 18 and 34. In the first week of its release, 60 percent of the viewers were in that particular age range while it went up to 61 percent in the second week.

Paul Dergarabedian, a representative of Comscore, revealed that the sensational storyline of the movie is the reason for its success. He further stated that the movie is a massive hit among younger audiences as they believe that “Parasite” is one of the coolest examples of international cinema.

The Oscar nominations and the social media buzz also helped secure the film’s success in the U.S.

“A solid increase in box office for a film that might have otherwise stalled out short of $30 million in North America,” Dergarabedian said.

As of late, the movie has earned almost $163 million worldwide.

Most of the movies nominated for Academy Awards have enjoyed a lot of success at the box office. Leading the pack is Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” that not only has the most number of nominations (11) but also raked in the highest amount of money worldwide. The movie went on to earn more than $1 billion globally, making it the biggest R-rated movie ever.

Meanwhile, Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women” continues to impress with its earnings. The film has grossed more than $163 million globally. The movie is Gerwig’s first movie to cross the $100 million mark since 2017’s “Lady Bird” only managed to generate $78 million worldwide.

Other movies in the Oscars’ Best Picture category are “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” ($373 million), “1917” ($250 million), “Ford v Ferrari” ($221 million), and “Jojo Rabbit” ($65 million).

“Marriage Story” and “The Irishman” got a wider release on the streaming service Netflix.