The South Korean period thriller "The Night Owl" has stayed atop the weekend box office for the third time in a row, data showed Monday.

The movie topped the box office chart for last weekend beginning Friday, selling about 468,000 tickets, according to the data from the Korean Film Council.

The flick has been on top of the weekend chart as well as the daily chart since it opened in South Korean theaters on Nov. 23, amassing 2.52 million viewers.

Set in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), the thriller tells the story of a day-blind acupuncturist who happens to witness the death of the crown prince and struggles to unearth the truth behind the death. Actors Ryu Jun-yeol and Yoo Hae-jin play the roles of the acupuncturist and the king, respectively.

Coming in second was the Korean plastic surgery-themed comedy "Men of Plastic," seen by 93,000 moviegoers over the weekend.

Starring Ma Dong-seok, also known as Don Lee, and directed by Lim Jin-sun, the film is about a businessman who teams up with a plastic surgeon to open a grandiose plastic surgery clinic in his affluent native neighborhood of Apgujeong in southern Seoul, known as a mecca of plastic surgery and aesthetics. The film has attracted about 555,000 audience members.

It was closely followed by Japanese romance drama "Even If This Love Disappears from the World Tonight" with 84,000 admissions. "A Birth," a Korean historical film about St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon (1821-1846), the first native Korean Catholic priest, placed fourth with 70,830 admissions. (Yonhap)