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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.02.26 ~ 2016.02.28

"Deadpool" makes way for "Spirits' Homecoming"...

Marvel's manic man "Deadpool" had to take a step back this past weekend in the wake of Cho Jung-rae's timely drama on Korea's 'comfort girls'. "Spirits' Homecoming" tells the tragic tale of a group of girls who were abused during Japan's occupation of Korea and the relationships that helped carry them through. The film was released last Wednesday and from the 793 screens allocated it accumulated 766 thousand admissions (30.4%). This touching and important drama stars Kang Ha-na, Choi Ri, Son Sook and Seo Mi-ji and is the third feature by Cho after "Foulball" (2015) and "Du-re Sori Story" (2011).

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Last weekend's number one, "Deadpool", added 441 thousand admissions to bring its total tally in Korea now to 2.6 million, or $17.5 million. Worldwide, "Deadpool" has grossed over $609 million, more than ten times its estimated budget. "Deadpool" almost fell further due to the release of Disney's quirky "Zootopia", which increased its tally from the 327 thousand it received last weekend (12%) to 412 thousand (16%). "Zootopia" is a 3D animation by Byron Howard and Rich Moore and it's the 55th film released by Disney.

Fourth to eighth place were occupied by local films starting with Lee Joon-ik's drama "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" on 187.6 thousand (7.5%). Last weekend Lee's tenth film sat in fifth place with 178 thousand (6.6%), and with this weekend's admissions added, the film now moves onto 607 thousand admissions sold for a bottom line of around $3.6 million. Not far behind Lee's latest fell last weekend's number two: "A Violent Prosecutor" by Lee Il-hyeong starring Hwang Jung-min and Gang Dong-won. "A Violent Prosecutor" was released earlier in the month and is the most popular Korea film of the year by some margin; the 178 thousand stubs it received over the weekend means it's a little over 500 thousand short of that 10 million mark (currently it's sitting on 9.43 million admissions, or $60.7 million).

"Like for Likes" by Park Hyeon-jin fell two places to settle in sixth with 93 thousand admissions going its way. This, Park's fourth film, has struggled to gain momentum since its release mid-February; its total tally now sitting at 733 thousand ($4.5 million). Two fresh local releases came next: Lee Yoon-ki's "A Man and A Woman" and Lee Eun-hee-I's "Pure Love - Movie". Lee Yoon-ki is well-known for his hard-hitting romantic dramas (mostly notably "Come Rain Come Shine") and his latest attracted 83 thousand during its first weekend out. "Pure Love - Movie", on the other hand, is a debut feature about a group of time-travelling friends and stars Do Kyung-soo, Kim So-hyun, Yeon Jun-suk, Lee David and Joo Ah-reum. "Pure Love - Movie" had 440 screens from which to pool from and managed to attract 76 thousand for just under 3% of the box office pie.

Lastly, the American science fiction thriller "The 5th Wave" claimed 61.7 thousand (2.4%) during its first weekend out for ninth place, and the weekend was rounded out by the Oscar-winning crime drama Spotlight by Tom McCarthy. The film is based on the story that earned The Boston Globe's Spotlight team of investigative journalists to the Pulitzer Prized for Public Service in 2003; it was awarded Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture at Academy Awards presented on Sunday night. The film claimed 57 thousand admissions (2.4%) across 316 screens to close out this weekend's top performers.

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.02.26 - 2016.02.28 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Spirits' Homecoming" (귀향) 2016/02/24 766 046 1 061 243
2 "Deadpool"   441 727 2 616 175
3 "Zootopia"   412 240 1 131 160
4 "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" (동주) 2016/02/17 187 616 607 305
5 "A Violent Prosecutor" (검사외전) 2016/02/03 178 966 9 437 872
6 "Like for Likes" (좋아해줘) 2016/02/17 93 672 733 711
7 "A Man and A Woman" (남과 여) 2016/02/25 83 052 116 983
8 "Pure Love - Movie" (순정) 2016/02/24 76 288 177 427
9 "The 5th Wave"   61 793 79 955
10 Spotlight   57 456 94 788
Korean movies only  
  "MUSUDAN" (무수단) 2016/03/03 1 370 1 496
  "Bungaeman" (번개맨) 2016/02/11 879 66 336
  "A Melody to Remember" (오빠 생각) 2016/01/21 840 1 069 112
  "The Strong and Mini Special Forces: Birth of a Hero" (최강전사 미니특공대 : 영웅의 탄생) 2016/02/04 565 115 869
  "No Tomorrow" (섬. 사라진 사람들) 2016/03/03 450 1 678
  "Promises" (육체의 약속, 1975) - Re-release   350 1 125
  "Missing You - 2016" (널 기다리며) 2016/03/10 282 282
  "SORI: Voice from the Heart" (로봇, 소리) 2016/01/27 279 476 183
  "Welcome to Playhouse" (소꿉놀이) 2016/02/25 221 1 383
  "Heroes of Dokdo" (독도의 영웅) 2016/02/18 220 1 049

- C.J. Wheeler (@Woolgatherist)

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