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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.06.09 - 2017.06.11

"Wonder Woman" steps aside for "The Mummy" and "The Villainess"...

DC's cinematic reimagining of "Wonder Woman" (starring Gal Gadot) failed to secure a second week at the top of the Korean box office. The film entered in first last weekend with 831,226 thousand admissions (36.5%), but was outplayed by two new releases, foreign and domestic: Alex Kurtzman's "The Mummy" and Jung Byung-gil's "The Villainess". "Wonder Woman" added 240,552 (10.64%) across 611 screens (down from 1,034) and moved its total tally now to 1.8 million, or $12.2 million. Worldwide, Warner Bros. Pictures' superhero film has grossed over $435.2 million.

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But the top spot this week when to Kurtzman's own reboot of the popular "Mummy" franchise (which started back in 1932) and stars one of Korea's favourite Hollywood talents: Tom Cruise. This 3D action-adventure film scored 1.1 million admissions (51.7%) from 1,254 screens around the country to clinch pole position. Far behind this weekend's number one entered "The Villainess" (Kim Ok-vin, Shin Ha-kyun) in second place. The film, Jeong's fourth, had its premiere recently at Cannes and tells the story of a child trained as a killer in China who returns to Korea to seek revenge. From 679 screens, "The Villainess" captured 17.16% of the sales (381,125 admissions).

After "Wonder Woman"'s demotion to third was the fifth instalment in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series of films. Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales", a swashbuckling fantasy film starring Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites and Kaya Scodelario, entered in first three weeks ago, was then relegated to second last weekend, and took fourth here with 6.7% (149,680). With this week's haul added, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" total gross in Korea sits at $20.9 million (2.8 million admissions).

Lee Chang-jae's documentary "Our President" about former President Roh Moo-hyun move down to fifth with 137,279 (6%), followed by Chung Yoon-chul's historical drama "Warriors of the Dawn" with Lee Jung-jae and Yeo Jin-goo. The film follows Prince Gwanghae and his rise to power, and from 442 screens it added 35,263 admissions (1.48%).

"Get Out", a critically acclaimed American horror by director Jordan Peele, has been active on Korea's cinema circuit since mid-May when it entered in first. The film enjoyed its premiere at the Sundance Festival back in January and has since grossed $250.1 million worldwide (the film was produced for just 4.5 million). In Korea, Peele's film, his directorial debut, has grossed $15.2 million (2.1 million admissions).

Two foreign animations were up next in eighth and ninth: "Beyblade Burst God", a Japanese anime, is in its second week out and banked $133,701 (19,375 admissions); while DreamWorks' "Boss Baby" (based on Marla Frazee's picture book of the same name) attracted 18,199 admissions during its sixth weekend out. The final spot went to Joji Matsuoka's "Midnight Diner 2", a new release from Japan, with 16,323 admissions (0.72%).

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.06.09 - 2017.06.11 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "The Mummy"   1 128 452 2 384 237
2 "The Villainess" (악녀) 2017/06/08 381 133 458 851
3 "Wonder Woman"   240 556 1 859 950
4 "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales"   149 682 2 881 506
5 "Our President" (노무현입니다) 2017/05/25 137 286 1 567 806
6 "Warriors of the Dawn" (대립군) 2017/05/31 35 263 792 635
7 "Get Out"   22 246 2 105 883
8 "Beyblade Burst God" (ベイブレードバースト神)   19 375 103 135
9 "The Boss Baby"   18 199 2 432 721
10 "Midnight Diner 2 (続・深夜食堂)"   16 323 21 235
Korean movies only  
  "Yongsoon" (용순) 2017/06/08 3 957 6 612
  "I Am a Cat" (나는 고양이로소이다) 2017/06/08 3 084 4 348
  "The Merciless" (불한당: 나쁜 놈들의 세상) 2017/05/17 2 939 918 814
  "Power Battle Watchcar: The Counterattack of Watch Mask" (파워배틀 와치카: 와치가면의 역습) 2017/06/01 2 416 22 117
  "Jane" (꿈의 제인) 2017/05/31 2 299 15 445
  "Suh-Suh Pyoung, Slowly and Peacefully" (서서평, 천천히 평온하게) 2017/04/26 2 232 107 138
  "A Day - 2017" (하루) 2017/06/15 1 538 4 442
  "Delta Boys" (델타 보이즈) 2017/06/08 927 2 063
  "Anarchist from Colony" (박열) 2017/06/28 902 902
  "The Mayor" (특별시민) 2017/04/26 300 1 362 434

- Christopher Wheeler

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