SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- Director Hur Jin-ho's new historical thriller, "The Assassin(s)," debuted at No. 1 at the weekend box office, drawing the largest audience during the extended Chuseok holiday, according to industry data released Monday.

The film garnered 1,199,156 admissions over the weekend, pushing its cumulative total to 1,566,222 as of Sunday, the Korean Film Council said. The council's weekend chart compiles ticket sales from Friday through Sunday.

The Korean thriller also led all films screened during the four-day extended Chuseok holiday, which began Thursday, attracting about 1.4 million moviegoers.

Inspired by the 1974 assassination attempt on then South Korean President Park Chung-hee, which resulted in the death of the first lady, the film follows the pursuit of the mastermind behind the incident. It stars Yoo Hae-jin as a detective, Park Hae-il as a newspaper's city desk editor and Lee Min-ho as a rookie reporter.

A poster for the Korean film "The Assassin(s)," provided by Hive Media Corp. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

While the film does not clearly identify the mastermind, some characters in the drama raise the hypothesis that the former president or the state intelligence agency might have planned the incident. Mixing the actual event with cinematic imagination, the film has faced criticism from some viewers for alleged historical distortion.

"Tazza: Song of Beelzebub," the final sequel to the long-running Korean crime film franchise "Tazza," ranked No. 2, drawing 566,528 admissions over the weekend.

Released on Sept. 23, the film depicts the love, hatred and revenge between two old friends. It is based on the comic book series of the same name by Huh Young-man.

Christopher Nolan's global megahit "The Odyssey" remained a major box-office draw at No. 3, adding 364,763 admissions. Released on Aug. 5, the film reached 11,783,000 admissions as of Sunday.

"The Intern," a Korean remake of the 2015 Hollywood hit, ranked fourth with 206,347 admissions. Starring Choi Min-sik and Han So-hee, who take on the roles played by Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway in the original film, the remake was directed by Kim Do-young of "Once We Were Us" (2025).

Korean auteur Lee Chang-dong's Venice-winning feature "Possible Love" ranked No. 5, drawing 72,022 admissions over the weekend.

"Possible Love" is currently playing for a limited theatrical run ahead of its Netflix release on Nov. 5.