Colony Box Office: Beats The King’s Warden With Record-Breaking 2 Million Admissions

Colony becomes 2026’s fastest Korean film to cross 2 million admissions after smashing multiple box office records.

- May 27, 2026 | 4:06 PM IST

South Korean Film Colony Box Office (Photo Credit: Instagram)

Colony’s journey had just begun in Cannes, a few days before its premiere in South Korea. Upon its release in its home country, the movie immediately caught the audience’s attention. The film’s popularity seems to be growing, and it has earned a massive following in a short time. Yeon Sang-ho’s Colony has beaten a box office record that was so far held by Park Ji-hoon’s starrer The King’s Warden. Let’s break down its earnings at the South Korean box office.

Colony Breaks The King’s Warden Box Office Records

Colony had its world premiere at Cannes on May 15, in the Midnight Screenings Out of Competition section. The audience of 2,300 erupted in applause for the film. Following its Cannes premiere, Colony was released in South Korea on May 21. The latest box office reports from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) confirm that, as of May 25, Colony has surpassed 2 million admissions. It earned a gross total of roughly $14.7 million from 2,110 screens spread nationwide.

This makes Colony the fastest film of 2026 so far to reach the 1 million and 2 million moviegoer marks. Colony crossed 1 million admissions in four days and 2 million in five, besting The King’s Warden, which took five days to reach 1 million and approximately seven to eight days to cross 2 million during the Lunar New Year holiday window, as per Allkpop.

Salmokji: Whispering Water, the year’s breakout horror hit, crossed 1 million in under ten days and 2 million in approximately fourteen. Not only this, but Colony also beat the 2025 film, My Daughter is a Zombie, by a full day to reach the 2 million milestone. Reportedly, on the fifth day, Colony saw an additional footfall of 517,011 admissions

The film is reportedly made on a budget of roughly $12 million to $14 million. It needs around 4 million admissions to reach a break-even point. Given its current pace outpacing the top-grossing films, it looks like that target might just be achievable.

To cement the record-breaking streak further, reports also suggest that Colony had the highest single-day opening for any film released in South Korea in 2026. It clocked 199,768 moviegoers, beating The King’s Wardens’ number of 117,792 moviegoers and 89,912 moviegoers for Salmokji: Whispering Water.

It was also reported that by its opening weekend, May 22-24, Colony captured 71.85% of total Korean movie market revenue, collecting approximately $9.4 million from 1,283,343 admissions, according to Variety. Colony was the eight highest grossing film in the world that weekend, as per Deadline.

What Is The Plot Of Colony?

Colony tells the story of Professor Kwon Se-jung (played by Jun Ji-hyun), a biotechnology expert who finds herself trapped inside a quarantined high-rise building in Seoul. The chaos is disrupted because of Seo Young-cheol, a disgruntled former employee, who injects the company’s CEO with a highly contagious bacteria. Thus ensues a violent and gory tale of zombies, who move collectively like a colony unit.

The movie also stars Ji Chang Wook, Kim Shin-rok, Go Soo, and Shin Hyun-been. Colony marks the highly anticipated return of Jun Ji-hyun, 11 years after the 2015 film Assassination. Colony is set to release worldwide in 120 countries soon, with its India release date locked for June 19, 2026.