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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.04.15 ~ 2016.04.17

Local films stage a comeback led by "Time Renegades"...

The second weekend of April (8-10) had just the one local film in the top ten, Lee Cheol-ha's "Insane", but Korean films have made a comeback as three new homegrown flicks entered the fray. Last weekend it was Lee's mystery thriller that took pole position with just under 30% of the box office pie, but it was Kwak Jae-yong's thriller "Time Renegades" with Lim Soo-jung, Cho Jung-seok, and Lee Jin-uk that took the honours over the past weekend.

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"Time Renegades" follows two men (a high school teacher played by Cho Jung-seok and Lee Jin-uk playing a detective) who, after a synchronous series of misfortunate events that allows them to 'see' through each other's eyes, go against the clock to try and save the woman they both love. The film opened last Wednesday and from the 733 screens allocated, "Time Renegades" claimed 336 thousand admissions (29.3%). Last weekend's number one, "Insane", fell just the one place with 190 thousand (17%), moving its total tally now to 805 thousand, or $5.8 million.

Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's dark fantasy "The Huntsman: Winter's War" (sequel to the "Snow White and the Huntsman", which was itself inspired by both the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen") also arrive on Wednesday and was given 557 screens from which to pool; it captured 14.4% of the sales (303 thousand admissions) and narrowly outperformed Disney's "Zootopia" (which has been out in Korea for two months already; since 17 February) which managed 174 thousand (14%). "Zootopia" has already grossed $882.3 million worldwide, and in Korea, the film has made $28.9 million from 4.2 million admissions.

Fifth place fell to Park Heung-sik's historical drama "Love, Lies" starring Han Hyo-joo and Yoo Yeon-seok. Period dramas are an incredibly popular genre in Korea cinema, and on its small screens, and Park is no stranger to it having directed the 2014 film, "Memories of the Sword". "Love, Lies" claimed 133 thousand admissions across 562 screens (11%), and it also marked the watershed in this week's chart as the next films, starting with "10 Cloverfield Lane", obtained significantly less competitive.

"10 Cloverfield Lane", a psychological thriller by Dan Trachtenberg (his directorial debut), added 31 thousand to its Korean cause bringing its total tally now to 333 thousand ($2.3 million); "Batman v Superman" fell two places having only managed to secure an additional 23 thousand (2%), bringing its total gross in Korea to 2.2 million ($16.3 million); and Dexter Fletcher's biographical dramedy "Eddie the Eagle" slipped four places during its second weekend out with 21 thousand (1.8%). Lastly, the third weekend of April was rounded out by Roberto Benigni's 1997 comedy-drama "Life is Beautiful" (18,6 thousand admissions across 127 screens), and tenth place was claimed by a local animation in the form of Park Jeong-oh's "Frankie and Friends the Movie: The Tree of Life" on 14.2 thousand (1.1%).

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.04.15 - 2016.04.17 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Time Renegades" (시간이탈자) 2016/04/13 336 140 546 738
2 "Insane" (날,보러와요) 2016/04/07 190 589 805 809
3 "The Huntsman: Winter's War"   169 809 303 931
4 "Zootopia"   164 120 4 232 547
5 "Love, Lies" (해어화) 2016/04/13 133 563 243 413
6 "'10 Cloverfield Lane'"   31 834 333 101
7 "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"   23 324 2 239 996
8 "Eddie the Eagle"   21 633 211 685
9 "Life is Beautiful" (La vita è bella)
  18 682 38 120
10 "Frankie and Friends the Movie: The Tree of Life" (극장판 프랭키와 친구들: 생명의 나무) 2016/04/13 14 235 28 654
Korean movies only  
  "4th Place" (4등) 2016/04/13 8 400 16 778
  "Single Determination" (일사각오) 2016/03/17 5 902 74 010
  "One Way Trip" (글로리데이) 2016/03/24 1 627 187 877
  "Upside Down" (업사이드 다운) 2016/04/14 956 2 003
  "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" (동주) 2016/02/17 792 1 162 971
  "Deaf Samryongi" (벙어리 삼룡이, 1964) - Re-release   483 3 520
  "Prince Daewon" (대원군 , 1968) - Re-release   467 467
  "Two Rooms, Two Nights" (거꾸로 가까이, 돌아서) 2016/04/14 363 1 184
  "Tender Heart" (다정불심, 1967) - Re-release   344 1 200
  "Deep Blue Night" (깊고 푸른 밤, 1985) - Re-release   285 3 394

- Chris Wheeler

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