[HanCinema's Film Review] Korean Weekend Box Office 2012.02.24 ~ 2012.02.26

HanCinema's Korean Box Office Review

(2011.02.24 ~ 2012.02.26)

It was a close finish this weekend but Yoon Jong-bin's "Nameless Gangster" has reclaimed number one with 353,688 admissions. That's just 23,145 admissions over last week's top performer "Howling" which came in second. "Nameless Gangster" is now just short of 4 million admissions as it moves up to be Korea's most successful film of the year so far.

Yoo Ha's "Howling" managed to generate great interest in its opening week, but narrowly lost out to Yoon Jong-bin's latest. Since its release on the 16^th, the film has accumulated 1,237,562 admissions and grab nearly 20% of the ticket sales in its second week. The number three spot was filled by Asger Leth's crime thriller "Man on a Ledge" and stars Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks. The gracious "Dancing Queen" may have slipped a spot or two but its light comedy, great cast, and lasting impression has kept it alive and kicking at four. "Dancing Queen" earned 152,793 admissions since hitting the big screen late in January and is approaching the 4 million admissions mark.

There were a lot of new foreign films that came out this past week and one of the more successful ones was "Underworld: Awakening" starring Kate Beckinsale. The Vampire and Lycan clans are back and this time the humans are fully aware of their existence and war breaks out. "Legends of Valhalla: Thor" is next at six and has been a fairly steady performer for the past three weeks. This Icelandic film has now amassed 578,906 in Korea. The famous and influential Margaret Thatcher has her story told in "The Iron Lady". Director Phyllida Lloyd casts Meryl Streep as the British prime minister and Korean audiences have welcomed his efforts with 47,627 admissions.

"Tarbosaurus 3D" added 44,533 to its total admissions count of 959,004, in the process capturing just over 3% of ticket sales. Joe Carnahan's "The Grey" drops four places to nine with 41,952 followed by the Chinese animation film "Legend of a Rabbit" with 41,533.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Week-end 2012.02.24 - 2012.02.26 (www.kobis.or.kr)