The Korean thriller took more than $501,000 at US cinemas the day after the Academy Awards, and smashed the UK record for the opening weekend foreign language films

Best picture winner Parasite has recorded spectacular audience figures in the wake of its Academy Awards triumph on Sunday.

After the South Korean satirical thriller became the first non-English-language film to take the main award, as well as best international feature, best original screenplay and best director for Bong Joon-ho, the box office dividend became apparent. Although it is already available on DVD and streaming formats in the US, it took more than $501,000 at cinemas the day after the Oscars ceremony – a 213% increase on figures for the same day on the previous week, and jumping from 12th to 4th place in the list. According to Deadline, advance sales for this week on the Fandango ticketing website were up 443% in comparison to the week before. Fandango’s streaming service also reported a jump of 468% week on week in views.

Parasite is playing on more than 1,000 screens in the US; its distributor, Neon, is planning to add around 1,000 more this weekend. Its total US gross stands at $36m, and estimates suggest it will achieve around $45m, making it the fourth most successful foreign-language import in the US, behind Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Life Is Beautiful and Hero.

In the UK, Parasite amassed £1.4m in the run-up to the Oscars ceremony on its opening weekend in British and Irish cinemas, just ahead of the £1.36m achieved by Apocalypto, the Mayan-language film directed by Mel Gibson released in 2007. Philip Knatchbull, Curzon’s CEO said: “To be opening Parasite in the UK in the midst of all this excitement is a dream for any distributor.” Jake Garriock, Curzon’s head of distribution strategy and publicity, said that attendances had significantly increased in the three days since the Oscar ceremony, saying that cinemas are “running at capacity”. Curzon are planning to expand the amount of screens the film will be playing on this weekend to around 430, up from 136 in the first week.

Independent cinemas around the UK are all reporting stellar business. The Filmhouse in Edinburgh said: “This is, without question, and by a country mile, the biggest foreign language opening in Filmhouse history.” Belfast’s QFT said: “Weekend admissions for Parasite were 3-4 times the size of the average ‘big’ foreign-language title (e.g. Pain and Glory).” The Watershed in Bristol reported: “Parasite is not just our biggest foreign language opener it is our biggest opening film ever!”

However Parasite has a considerable way to go to catch the highest-grossing foreign-language film of all time at the UK box-office: figures compiled by data agency Comscore and the BFI research unit show that remains The Passion of the Christ, another Mel Gibson film, which amassed £11.1m in 2004. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, released in 2001, finished on £9.4m and Amelie took £5m, also in 2001. Apocalypto managed £4.1m in total.