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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2015.08.07 ~ 2015.08.09

"Veteran" enjoys stunning opening weekend...

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After a stunning first couple weeks at the top of the pile, Choi Dong-hoon's "The Assassination" remained in second by adding another million admissions (23%) to its total tally. With this past weekend's figures in, "The Assassination" has now amassed 9 million admissions and moves past "Ode to My Father" as the second highest-grossing Korean film of the year.

"The Assassination" entered the charts three weeks ago where it slotted firmly into first, but last week it was dislodged by Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation". However, even though it managed to outdo the 941 thousand admissions "Mission Impossible" gathered, it was denied the top spot due to Ryoo Seung-wan's crime drama "Veteran" starring Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Ah-in, Yoo Hae-jin, Oh Dal-soo, and Jang Yoon-ju. "Veteran" opened to over a thousand screens around the country and ultimately captured 41% of the box office pie as 1.9 million filmgoers flocked to catch Cruise in action. That phenomenal start means Ryoo's drama has raced to nearly 3 million admissions in only a few days.

In fourth place fell the "Despicable Me" spinoff, "Minions" by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda. Worldwide the film has banked $912 million, and this past weekend it added $2 million (319 admissions) to bring its bottom line in Korea now to $11.2 million. Disney and Pixar's popular "Inside Out" is another foreign animation that is performing well, not enough to bump the "Minions" down, but the cognitive comedy brought in an additional 186 thousand stubs to bring its total in Korea to 4.5 million admissions ($11.2 million).

Two Japanese animations came next: the latest in the "Detective Conan" series of films (this one entitled: "Sunflowers of Interno" and claimed 162 thousand admissions) which was released in Japan in April, and "Yokai Watch: Tanjo no himitsuda nyan", which marked the watershed in terms of admissions, which managed just 20 thousand (0.4%). The Brazil-French animated production "Amazonia" by Thierry Ragobert entered in eighth with 8.8 thousand going its way, and Guy Lodge's "Diary of a Chambermaid" followed in ninth with 4.5 thousand having also just arrived on the Korean circuit. Lastly, the list of the weekend's top players was closed out by Bill Pohlad's biopic on Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, "Love & Mercy" (4,2 thousand).

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2015.08.07 - 2015.08.09 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Veteran" (베테랑) 2015/08/05 1 916 519 2 760 812
2 "The Assassination" (암살) 2015/07/22 1 079 472 8 973 070
3 "Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation"   942 014 4 721 438
4 "Minions"   319 493 1 808 673
5 "Inside Out"   186 081 4 538 809
6 "Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno" (名探偵コナン 業火の向日葵)   162 840 263 701
7 "Yokai Watch: Tanjo no himitsuda nyan"   20 149 532 707
8 "Amazonia"   8 831 17 323
9 "The Diary of a Chambermaid" (Journal d'une femme de chambre)   4 559 6 919
10 "Love & Mercy"   4 238 20 389
Korean movies only  
  "Tasty 2: Happy Together" (고녀석 맛나겠다2 : 함께라서 행복해) 2015/07/30 3 779 46 143
  "Northern Limit Line" (연평해전) 2015/06/24 2 139 6 037 001
  "Death in Desert" (짓2 : 붉은 낙타) 2015/08/05 442 633
  "Beauty Inside" (뷰티 인사이드) 2015/08/20 350 10 647
  "Factory Complex" (위로공단) 2015/08/13 347 1 740
  "An Upstart" (구봉서의 벼락부자, 1961) - Re-release 1961/07/13 280 1 324
  "A Midsummer's Fantasia" (한여름의 판타지아) 2015/06/11 251 33 937
  "Gifted" (살인재능) 2015/07/30 167 1 366
  "Hwang Jin-ie" (황진이, 1986) - Re-release 1986/09/18 160 3 678
  "Scary House" (무서운 집) 2015/08/08 142 169

 

- C.J. Wheeler (@WoolgatheristKoreaOnTheCouch)

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