A local movie depicting the horrendous suffering of Korean women who were sexually enslaved for Japanese soldiers during World War II has reached the break-even point in four days after its release, data showed Sunday.

"Spirits' Homecoming" sold 296,524 tickets on Saturday alone, taking the accumulated number of viewers to 756,665 since its release on Wednesday, according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).

With the robust performance, the film exceeded its break-even point a day earlier, where revenue fully covers investment.

On the first day of its release, the film instantly became the most-viewed piece and has maintained the top spot for four straight days as of Saturday, when the movie accounted for 29.7 percent of all theater ticket sales, according to the data.

Industry watchers predicted the film would attain the 1 million viewer mark if the current pace continues.

Based on the testimonies of the "comfort women," who were forced into sexual servitude at Japanese military brothels by the imperialist Japanese army, the movie took its cinematic motives from "Burning Women," a drawing by Kang Il-chul, one of the victims, during her therapy sessions.

Historians estimate that up to 200,000 women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in the front-line brothels during the war. Korea was under Japanese colonial rule from 1910-45.

The movie, 14 years in the making due to a lack of financial resources, was finally able to see completion after supporters, sponsors and the film industry chipped in investment money. (Yonhap)