[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.09.19 ~ 2014.09.21
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"The Maze Runner" breaks 8-week long local streak…
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For the first time since July a foreign flick has take the top spot. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" claimed 1.3M admissions during the third weekend of July, but since then the Korean box office has been spoilt by the local likes of "KUNDO : Age of the Rampant", "The Admiral: Roaring Currents", "Pirates", and the latest Korean gold medallist "Tazza: The Hidden Card".
Wes Ball's adaptation "The Maze Runner" was released on the 18th and over this past weekend the film claimed 36.9% of the box office pie to come out on top. This young-adult sci-fi thriller attracted over 631K over 648 screens to dislodge Kang Hyeong-cheol's comedy drama "Tazza: The Hidden Card" as the country's film of choice.
The American musical drama "Begin Again" managed to stay unmoved in second place as it added another 360K (21.8%) to its total tally. John Carney's latest has managed to bank $18.6M (19.4M admissions) since its release on the 13th of last month, and despite being given only 499 screens the film was still able to outplay "Tazza: The Hidden Card".
Last week "Tazza: The Hidden Card" was enjoying its second week at the top after having overthrown Lee Seok-hoon's "Pirates" two week's ago. Week three for this popular sequel was less stellar and its 641 screens only yielded 222K (13.6%). "Tazza 2" has thus far amassed 3.5M admissions ($28.1M) and has just recently overtaken Jo Beom-goo's "The Divine Move" as the seventh highest grossing Korean film of the year.
Scott Frank's adaptation "A Walk Among the Tombstones" made its way to Korean shores last week, and attracted the support of just under 100K (6%). The film (which is based on Lawrence Block's novel of the same name) had just 378 screens to pool from, but did well to still feature in the upper echelons of Korea's chart. In fifth place (and unmoved) came the Lee Seok-hoon's period adventure "Pirates". "Pirates" claimed a soft 78K (4.5%) to advance its total tally now to 8.5M ($62.6M), and is closing in on "Miss Granny" (currently the second highest-grossing Korean film of the year with 8.6M admissions), but requires another 155K admissions to pass Hwang Dong-hyuk's comedy drama.
Steven Quale's "Into the Storm" (60K – 3.4%) and Luc Besson's sci-fi action flick "Lucy" (45K - 2.8%) occupied sixth and seventh respectively. Lee Jae-yong's family drama "My Brilliant Life" fell two places to eight with its allotted 43K (2.4%), followed by the foreign animation "Maya the Bee 3D" (25K – 1.3%). The weekend was rounded out by the record-breaking "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" by Kim Han-min. This stellar blockbuster has been soaking up stubs since late July, and has since move its bottom line to a phenomenal $130M (17.5M admissions).
What's coming out next week in Korea? [HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...
Last weekend's report: [HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.09.12 ~ 2014.09.14
Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.09.19 - 2014.09.21 (www.kobis.or.kr)
| # | Films | Release date | Week-end | Total |
| 1 | "The Maze Runner" | 631 552 | 720 124 | |
| 2 | "Begin Again" | 360 657 | 2 437 431 | |
| 3 | "Tazza: The Hidden Card" (타짜-신의 손) | 2014/09/03 | 222 407 | 3 577 366 |
| 4 | "A Walk Among The Tombstones" | 99 808 | 126 567 | |
| 5 | "Pirates" (해적: 바다로 간 산적) | 2014/08/06 | 78 084 | 8 501 468 |
| 6 | "Into the Storm" | 60 035 | 2 016 493 | |
| 7 | "Lucy" | 45 634 | 1 927 911 | |
| 8 | "My Brilliant Life" (두근두근 내 인생) | 2014/09/03 | 43 612 | 1 579 813 |
| 9 | "Maya the Bee 3D" | 25 898 | 242 382 | |
| 10 | "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (명량-회오리바다) | 2014/07/30 | 23 026 | 17 571 631 |
| Korean movies only | ||||
| "The Plan" (설계) | 2014/09/18 | 21 540 | 31 206 | |
| "One for All, All for One" (60만번의 트라이) | 2014/09/18 | 3 629 | 8 325 | |
| "The King of Jokgu" (족구왕) | 2014/08/21 | 2 943 | 36 033 | |
| "Hill of Freedom" (자유의 언덕) | 2014/09/04 | 2 481 | 30 644 | |
| "The Road Called Life" (메밀꽃, 운수 좋은 날, 그리고 봄봄) | 2014/08/21 | 1 263 | 26 004 | |
| "The Wicked" (마녀) | 2014/09/11 | 567 | 7 692 | |
| "Food Chain" (먹이사슬) | 2014/09/17 | 327 | 1 474 | |
| "Slow Video" (슬로우 비디오) | 2014/10/02 | 312 | 2 046 | |
| "Night Flight" (야간비행) | 2014/08/28 | 238 | 8 352 | |
|
"A Happy Businesswoman" (1963, 또순이) - Re-release |
192 | 591 | ||
- C.J. Wheeler (chriscjw@gmail.com; @KoreaOnTheCouch)