Local Films Return to Market

With no major Hollywood titles launched over the past few weeks, the market contracted just over 10%, with 792,000 sales recorded over the weekend. However, this left the door open for a new homegrown title to top the box office, the first domestic title to do so since September, which pushed the local market share up to 39%.

The romantic comedy Perhaps Love with Ryu Seungryong and Oh Nara, the directorial debut of actress Cho Eunji, scored the first place finish with 233,000 entries (USD 2.08 million) over the weekend and a total of 332,000 admissions (USD 2.86 million) over its first five days. The critical reaction has been warm, with the audience reaction a little cooler but also positive, but with a lot of incoming competition, it may face an uphill battle going forward.

In its third week, Marvel’s Eternals experienced another steep 56% drop, but it was close to taking the top crown again with 221,000 sales (USD 1.94 million) counted over the weekend. The tentpole has sold 2.85 million tickets to date (USD 25 million) and should overtake fellow Marvel title Black Widow over the coming days to become the highest-grossing foreign film of the year in the market and second overall behind Escape from Mogadishu.

The critically acclaimed sci-fi Dune had another stronghold, shedding just 27% of its audience. Banking another 91,000 viewers (USD 882,000), the film has now 1.34 million accumulated sales (USD 12.17 million).

After a soft second-place debut last weekend, the local gangster drama Tomb of the River lost two-thirds of its audience, filling an additional 42,000 seats (USD 377,000) over the frame and lifting its haul to 281,000 entries (USD 2.46 million).

The American coming-of-age musical Dear Evan Hansen opened in fifth place, welcoming 41,000 viewers (USD 368,000) over the weekend and 73,000 spectators (USD 626,000) over its first five days.

This week will bring with it a bounty of new titles, including two domestic films, the SF-thriller Spiritwalker with Yoon Kyesang, which recently had its US remake rights snatched up, and the romantic comedy Nothing Serious with Jun Jongseo and Son Sukku, as well as the Disney animation Encanto.