As a seasoned film critic who has been following the Korean cinema industry for decades, I must say that this past weekend was a bit of a letdown, even for the usually resilient South Korean box office. The victory of “I, The Executioner” feels more like a pyrrhic one, with the overall earnings hitting their lowest mark this year.
The Korean crime-comedy-thriller “I The Executioner,” following up on the 2015 success of ‘Veteran,’ remained number one at South Korea’s weekend box office, but its triumph was bittersweet as the overall box office in Korea hit a record low this year.
Across the country, approximately 2,500 cinemas in South Korea collectively brought in around $4.39 million from Friday through Sunday.
Historically, the month of October hasn’t been strong for Korean cinemas. However, the most recent weekend’s box office earnings fell below the typical mid-October figures, even lower than those recorded during the pandemic-affected 2022 or the recovery year of 2023.
The recent data aligns with the pessimistic conversations held during the Busan International Film Festival, where the struggles experienced by cinematic theaters and their supplying and distributing firms were prominent topics of discussion.
In its fifth weekend, “The Executioner” brought in approximately $1.08 million as reported by Kobis, a film tracking service run by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). This adds to its cumulative earnings of around $52 million since its release on September 13. Currently, it ranks as the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year in the country, with “Exhuma,” “The Roundup: Punishment,” and “Inside Out 2” still leading the way, having earned $64 million collectively.
The romantic drama titled “Love in the Big City” took home $874,000 as the runner-up. Since its release in October, it has accumulated a total of $3.56 million.
In its second week in South Korean cinemas, “The Wild Robot” – currently the number one movie globally – ranked third, generating approximately $679,000 from Friday to Sunday. Since its debut on Oct. 1, it has amassed a total of $2.97 million at Korean box offices.
In its second week at the box office, “Joker: Folie a Deux” slipped two spots to rank fourth. The movie generated $381,000 in revenue, bringing its cumulative earnings up to $4.49 million since its debut on October 1st.
The 2004 film “The Notebook,” which was re-released, placed fifth on the Korean box office chart and made approximately $299,000. Conversely, the Japanese animation “The Colors Within” debuted as the top new release of the weekend in Korea, despite launching only on Saturday (when most movies premiere on Wednesdays). It ranked sixth overall, earning around $128,000 in just two days.
In the seventh spot, ‘Transformers One’ trailed closely with a gross of $125,000 since its release on September 25th. To date, it has earned a total of $2.42 million.
The long-running Korean animated series “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” earned an additional $80,000, bringing its total earnings to over $8.05 million since its release on August 7th.
The Japanese movie titled “Look Back” has accumulated approximately $1.92 million in earnings since it premiered on September 5 in South Korea, with a daily box office intake of around $75,900. (According to domestic box office rankings based on ticket sales rather than total revenue, it currently ranks eleventh.)
As a dedicated cinema enthusiast, I recently witnessed “Detective Conan: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper,” the captivating Japanese animation that graced our screens a week ago. To my delight, it managed to secure the tenth spot at the box office, earning an impressive $74,100 in its opening week. Over the course of two weeks, this masterpiece has amassed a staggering total of $582,000.
In contrast to its success in Southeast Asia and China, the Thai comedy-drama movie “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” didn’t perform as well in South Korea. Over the weekend, it earned approximately $27,100, while over a period of five days, its earnings totaled around $50,300.
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2024-10-14 04:47