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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.04.22 ~ 2016.04.24

"Time Renegades" stays put at the top...

Kwak Jae-yong's thriller "Time Renegades", starring Lim Soo-jung, Cho Jung-seok and Lee Jin-uk, retained pole position over the last weekend despite a slight drop in its dominance from 29% to 25%. Last weekend Kwak's film entered the fray and attracted 336 thousand to its screens (733); its second weekend out, however, saw that figure slip to 239 thousand, moving its total tally now to just under a million admissions ($6.7 million).

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That slight dip in admissions allowed popular films that were already on circuit to continue to find supporters, most notably "Zootopia" which climbed two places to settle in second place. "Zootopia" was released in Korea mid-February to a relatively timid reception, but after the film's American release it gained popularity and is still thriving. Disney's latest hit added another 148.7 thousand to bring its new total now to 4.4 million in Korea alone ($30.3 million); worldwide, "Zootopia" has grossed over $907 million.

There were three new films that managed to make the country's top ten: Nam Dae-joong's "The Last Ride", "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension", and "Triple 9". "The Last Ride" (starring Ryu Deok-hwan, Kim Dong-young and Ahn Jae-hong) was the most successful of these new releases, claiming third place with 135 thousand admissions (15%) across 523 screens. It follows a group of three of friends who comically band together to make on of their last wishes comes true. Lee Cheol-ha's mystery thriller was next; "Insane" opened its account at the beginning of April when occupied first place, then second, and now fourth. The film added 106 thousand over the weekend bringing its total tally now to 992 thousand.

Park Heung-sik's period piece "Love, Lies" remained unmoved in fifth place with 80 thousand coming out in support, followed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's "The Huntsman: Winter's War" (aka "he Snow White Chronicles - The Huntsman: Winter's War"). Nicolas-Troyan's film is a prequel/sequel to the popular 2012 film "Snow White and the Huntsman" and it opened its Korean account positively last weekend in third place with 169 thousand admissions (14.4%); this weekend, however, interest dwindled as it fell three places with just 69.9 thousand (7.1%) to show. "The Huntsman: Winter's War" marked the admissions watershed as the next film, "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension", struggled to find firm footing and grabbed just 32.6 thousand admissions (3.5%).

For the past two weeks the re-release of Roberto Benigni's 1997 hit "Life is Beautiful" has featured fairly in Korea's top ten. Last weekend it occupied ninth place with 18.6 thousand and was able to improve on that sum with an increase to 28.3 thousand admissions (2.4%). The last of the new releases, John Hillcoat's crime thriller "Triple 9", claimed 22.4 thousand across 324 screens (which was less than half of "Life of Beautiful"), followed by a Japanese from the early 2000s: Isamu Nakae's "Between Calmness and Passion". The film had 119 screens from which to pool and from the attracted 15.9 thousand (1.6%) to round out the weekend's top performers.

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.04.22 - 2016.04.24 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Time Renegades" (시간이탈자) 2016/04/13 228 088 933 015
2 "Zootopia"   143 030 4 420 068
3 "The Last Ride" (위대한 소원) 2016/04/21 135 176 193 393
4 "Insane" (날,보러와요) 2016/04/07 100 181 985 506
5 "Love, Lies" (해어화) 2016/04/13 77 622 400 118
6 "The Huntsman: Winter's War"   66 423 422 710
7 "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension"   31 006 43 464
8 Life is Beautiful   28 390 79 973
9 "Triple 9"   22 415 38 240
10 "Between Calm and Passion" (冷静と情熱のあいだ)   15 925 21 586
Korean movies only  
  "Frankie and Friends the Movie: The Tree of Life" (극장판 프랭키와 친구들: 생명의 나무) 2016/04/13 9 575 40 950
  "4th Place" (4등) 2016/04/13 4 221 25 903
  "Single Determination" (일사각오) 2016/03/17 1 771 77 400
  "End of Winter" (철원기행) 2016/04/21 1 134 1 634
  "DongJu, The Portrait of A Poet" (동주) 2016/02/17 879 1 164 744
  "Spirits' Homecoming" (귀향) 2016/02/24 477 3 584 817
  "Upside Down" (업사이드 다운) 2016/04/14 437 2 856
  "Subzero Point '81" (빙점 '81, 1981) - Re-release   266 4 132
  "Theatrical Cut - Hello Jadu" (극장판 안녕 자두야) 2016/05/04 224 224
  "Heroes of Dokdo" (독도의 영웅) 2016/02/18 203 2 280
 

- Chris Wheeler

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