Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.01.03 - 2014.01.05

"The Attorney" gets 2014 off to a super start… 

Advertisement

The first figures for 2014 are in and Yang Woo-seok's "The Attorney" has crossed over in style. Yang's true-life drama dominated proceedings at the end of 2013, and has opened its 2014 account with 1.2 million admissions (44.3%), advancing its total tally now to 7.8M ($53.7M). Yang's magnetic marvel was joined by Won Shin-yun's action thriller "The Suspect", whose 542,730 (19.4%) pushed Won's fourth film over the 3 million mark. From there it was the foreign flicks all the way down to Pang Eun-jin's "Way Back Home" in tenth, which marked its fourth week in top ten by adding to 35,764 (1.2%) admissions to its cause.

"The Attorney" was released on the 19th last month and since then the film has been sitting pretty at the top; capturing the local crowd's interest and rocketing it into the top ten in the final days of 2013. All-star actor Song Kang-ho, who had a phenomenal 2013 with the period feature "The Face Reader" and comic book adaptation "Snowpiercer", takes the lead in "The Attorney" and was great company in the form of Kim Young-ae, Oh Dal-soo and Kwak Do-won. "The Attorney" has now enjoyed three straight weeks at the top of Korea's box office, pleasing both locals and critics with its dramatic story from a critical time in Korea's history.

Won Shin-yun's "The Suspect" came into the fray a week after Yang's drama, and has since collected 3M admissions: 542,730 (19.4%) of which came from this first weekend of 2014. The film continues with the popular spy-thriller trend, and stars Gong Yoo in his first action outing as an estranged North Korean who heads south to demystify his betrayal. Alongside Gong in this one are actors Park Hee-soon, Cho Seong-ha, and Yoo Da-in.

From third until ninth the foreign flicks had their way, starting out with Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (236, 409 – 8.4%). The film is the second adaptation of James Thurber's 1939 short story of the same name, and has Stiller, in addition to the directing duties, starring as its lead Walter Mitty. Stiller's film was followed by the sci-fi action film "Ender's Game" (188,966 – 6.8%), Belgium's "The House of Magic" (167,089 – 5.4%), the British romance flick "About Time" (142,127 – 5.2%), and the Spanish animation "Justin and the Knights of Valour" came to party with a well-fought 94,392 (3%).

Peter Jackson's second instalment in his "The Hobbit" trilogy added 37,456 admissions (2.1%) to its cause, bringing Mr. Baggins' run in Korea to 2.2M ($16.2M) since its release on the 12th of December. The 3D event "Walking with Dinosaurs" celebrated the New Year with an additional 37,456 (1.3%) stubs, and the first weekend of the New Year was rounded out by Pang Eun-jin's "Way Back Home" - adding 35,764 admissions to advance its total tally now to 1.8M ($12M).

 

What's coming out next week in Korea?: [HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...

Last weekend's report: [HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2013.12.27 ~ 2013.12.29

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.01.03 - 2014.01.05 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "The Attorney" (변호인) 2013/12/19 1 237 008 7 860 189
2 "The Suspect" (용의자) 2013/12/24 542 730 3 099 987
3 "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"   236 408 507 715
4 "Ender's Game"   188 966 555 561
5 "The House of Magic"   167 089 754 481
6 "About Time"   142 127 3 094 621
7 "Justin and the Knights of Valour"   94 392 204 866
8 "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"   59 261 2 215 606
9 "Walking with Dinosaurs 3D"   37 456 583 934
10 "Way Back Home" (집으로 가는 길) 2013/12/12 35 764 1 827 974
Korean movies only  
  "Plan Man" (플랜맨) 2014/01/09 9 647 13 299
  "Catch Me" (캐치미) 2013/12/19 5 824 491 380
  "Lazy Hitchhikers' Tour de Europe" (잉여들의 히치하이킹) 2013/11/28 698 23 496
  "Yoon Hee" (윤희) 2014/01/09 500 500
  "SHIVA, Throw Your Life" (시바, 인생을 던져) 2013/12/19 480 3 352
  "Marriage Blue" (결혼 전야) 2013/11/21 284 1 213 849
  "A Clear Night" (청야) 2013/12/26 253 3 752
  "Did You Hear She Sings??" (그녀가 부른다) 2013/12/26 210 2 447
  "Stray Dogs" (들개들) 2014/01/23 111 111
  "Animal" (청춘예찬) 2014/01/02 80 85

 

- C.J. Wheeler (chriscjw@gmail.com@KoreaOnTheCouch

❎ Try Ad-free