[HanCinema's Film Review] Korean Weekend Box Office 2011.09.23 ~ 2011.09.25

HanCinema's Korean Box Office Review

(2011.09.23 ~ 2011.09.25)

"The Crucible", by Hwang Dong-hyeok, is this week's new number one with 685,784 admissions. His latest film is a drama based on Gong Ji-young's novel of the same name. "Arrow, The Ultimate Weapon" may have slipped to number two but having just broken the 7 million admissions mark the film is looking set to trump "Sunny" as Korea's top film of 2011.

"Sunny - 2010" is Korea's current number one film of 2011 with 7,369,202 total admissions however Kim Han-min's latest is now just a few hundred tickets short of claiming that title. The blockbuster managed just 149,183 in the shadow of the "Crucible" but that doesn't deter from its fantastic success in theatres thus far. Steven Soderbergh's action-thriller "Contagion" is at three, earning 111,932 admissions this past weekend followed by "Mr. Popper's Penguins" with 85,808.

Jeong Tae's "Marrying the Mafia IV - Family Ordeal" has fallen a little further down the charts, having tasted the top spot just two weeks ago. Jeong Tae's latest sits on a total of 2,283,806 and it sticking it out as best it can, receiving stiff competition from local constants as well as the new Korean entries. "The Killer Elite" is an action film with Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Yvonne Strahovshi, and Dominic Purcell. It has received poor reviews internationally and as such its impact on the Korean charts will be minimal. Still the big names involved in this project will surely attract some curious minds seeking thrills that only such a cast could deliver. Sohn Young-sung's (director of the acclaimed "The Pit and The Pendulum") new crime thriller "The Client" is at seven with 61,074 admissions.

Moving to the bottom of this week's charts we find three Korean films in the form of "Countdown", "Painted", and "Champ". "Countdown" is an action-drama from Heo Jong-ho, his first major feature film. "Pained" was fourth last week but now sits at nine with just 24,591 admissions. Lastly, Lee Hwan-gyeong's "Champ" is pulling up the rear, adding 17,824 tickets to its run.