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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.03.18 ~ 2016.03.20

"Zootopia" gets more screens and scores...

"Zootopia" was released in Korea mid-February and for the first three weeks it sat in third place; after its America release, however, the film shot to number one. This past weekend "Zootopia" (also known as "Zootropolis") banked another 358 thousand admissions ($2.5 million) to bring its total tally in Korea now to 2.8 million ($18.7 million; 30%). Worldwide, Byron Howard and Rich Moore's "Zootopia" has grossed over $591 million.

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The American action thriller "London Had Fallen" (the sequel to the 2013 film, "Olympus Has Fallen") moved up from third into second place with 191 thousand admissions (16%), followed by Cho Jung-rae's timely drama "Spirits' Homecoming" on 151 thousand (12%). "Spirits' Homecoming" was released just ahead of International Women's Day and tells how young lives were affected by Japanese soldiers during Japan's military campaign around the turn of the last century. The film stars Kang Ha-na and Choi Ri, and since its release late February, it's made $22.3 million (3.4 million admissions).

Fourth place was claimed by Mo Hong-jin's thriller "Missing You - 2016" starring Shim Eun-kyung, Yoon Je-moon and Kim Sung-oh. "Missing You - 2016" entered the fray last week in fourth, and managed to retain that position here with 137 thousand admissions (12%) and moving its bottom line now to $3.9 million (551 thousand admissions). The fantasy flick "Gods of Egypt" by Alex Proyas was next with 66.8 thousand (5.7%), a film that is still in the red worldwide having only made back $128 million of the $140 million it took to produce, followed by the American comedy "Dirty Grandpa" (starring Robert De Niro and Zac Efron) with 43.6 thousand (3.7%).

South Korean director Lee Joon-ik has produced a number of popular films which includes "The Throne" (2014), "Battlefield Heroes" (2010), and "The King and the Clown" (2005), and his latest film, "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" starring Kang Ha-neul and Park Jung-min, has been out on Korea's cinema circuit since the middle of February. Over the weekend, it attracted an additional 39.9 thousand filmgoers to its screens (3.2%) to move its total tally now to 1.1 million, or $7.2 million.

The biblical drama "Risen" by Kevin Reynolds hit Korean screens last Thursday and its first weekend out yielded just $180 thousand (2%) for the 120 screens allocated to it. This tale of a group of Roman soldiers in search of Jesus' body was closely tallied by Marvel's bombastic madman, "Deadpool". Worldwide, "Deadpool" has been extremely popular, bringing in over $730 million, $23.6 million coming from Korean screens, and over the weekend, the film sold 27.7 thousand admissions to bring its total admissions count in Korea to 3.3 million. The second-last weekend of March was rounded out by the British spy film "Spooks: The Greater Good" by Bharat Nalluri which claimed 24.5 thousand (2%) during its first weekend out.

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.03.18 - 2016.03.20 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Zootopia"   357 881 2 813 165
2 "London Has Fallen"   191 687 609 810
3 "Spirits' Homecoming" (귀향) 2016/02/24 151 507 3 424 060
4 "Missing You - 2016" (널 기다리며) 2016/03/10 136 862 551 464
5 "Gods of Egypt"   66 795 898 488
6 "Dirty Grandpa"   43 570 56 621
7 "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" (동주) 2016/02/17 39 897 1 106 883
8 "Risen"   28 690 34 040
9 "Deadpool"   27 732 3 303 518
10 "Spooks: The Greater Good"   24 568 31 346
Korean movies only  
  "Single Determination" (일사각오) 2016/03/17 12 497 17 003
  "A Violent Prosecutor" (검사외전) 2016/02/03 2 024 9 704 655
  "Hiya" (히야) 2016/03/10 1 029 21 501
  "Like for Likes" (좋아해줘) 2016/02/17 814 847 933
  "A Man and A Woman" (남과 여) 2016/02/25 640 203 145
  "Pure Love - Movie" (순정) 2016/02/24 568 239 341
  "Eclipse" (커터) 2016/03/30 489 489
  "A Student Boarder" (하숙생, 1966) - Re-release   337 1 956
  "Northern Limit Line" (연평해전) 2015/06/24 241 6 044 537
  "One Way Trip" (글로리데이) 2016/03/24 233 2 996

- Chris Wheeler

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