“The Man Standing Next” has attracted more than 1.12 million moviegoers since the political thriller‘s release three days ago, box-office data showed Saturday, highlighting its popularity during the ongoing Lunar New Year holiday.

The accumulated attendance for the film, which was released Wednesday, was tallied at 1,127,757, according to the computerized tally from the Korean Film Council. It was trailed by “Hitman: Agent Jun” that has attracted 220,805 viewers so far.

“The Man Standing Next” depicts the intense power struggle among former President Park Chung-hee’s top aides before one of them assassinated the general turned president in 1979.

It is based on a nonfiction best-seller, “KCIA Chiefs,” published from 1990 to 1992 in the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper. Park established the intelligence agency, the KCIA, to apparently conduct surveillance of politicians, government officials and others. (Yonhap)