A scene from Disney's new animated film "Frozen 2," which has topped the local box office since its premiere Nov. 21, despite complaints about the movie dominating screens and mistranslated subtitles. Courtesy of Walt Disney Company Korea



By Lee Gyu-lee



The sequel to Disney's 2013 global sensation "Frozen" has dominated the local box office for 13 consecutive days since it premiered Nov. 21. As of Wednesday "Frozen 2" has accumulated 8.98 million ticket sales, grossing 74.9 billion won ($62.7 million).



The success comes despite accusations that Disney Korea is violating the Antitrust Act and complaints that the subtitles have been poorly translated.



A civic group has filed a complaint against Walt Disney Company Korea, Monday, for violating the Antitrust Act by monopolizing the domestic market.



The film recorded the highest number of showings in one day Nov. 23, breaking the record set by "Avengers: Endgame." According to the group, the animated movie was shown on 88 percent share of all screens across Korea with 16,220 showings that day, and this broke the act.



Since its premiere, the animated movie has had 10,000 screenings per day, which is approximately three times higher than the second film on the box office chart.



On top of the accusations it is unfairly dominating the local film market, some moviegoers pointed out the film's Korean subtitles are poor interpretations of the English language dialogue and as a result changed the context of the scenes.



The word "permafrost" in the line "Enjoying your new permafrost, Olaf?" was mistranslated as "Ice sheet," and "Gesture charade" was changed to "ball" in the subtitles. However, Disney Korea has not responded to fans' complaints about the translations, saying it has a policy of not disclosing information about its translators.



Despite the complaints here, the film has led to another "Frozen" craze worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing opening record of all Disney's animated films in several countries, including China and Germany. It also set the highest record for the five-day Thanksgiving weekend last week in the U.S., bringing in around $120 million.





Posters for "Bring Me Home," left, starring actress Lee Young-ae and "Black Money" starring actor Cho Jin-woong. The films ranked second and third at this week's local box office. Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea and Acemaker Movie Works