[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.09.08 - 2017.09.10
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Local thriller "Memoir of a Murderer" and "It" edge out "The Hitman's Bodyguard"...
Won Shin-yun's "Memoir of a Murderer" and the American horror "It" claimed first and second place respectively during their first weekend out. "Memoir of a Murderer", Won Shin-yun's fifth film, stars Sol Kyung-gu as a retired serial killer suffering from memory loss who has to execute the biggest kill of his career to save his daughter. From 1,064 screens, Won Shin-yun's 118-minute thriller claimed 43.07% of the sales (899,251 admissions), or $6.6 million, dislodging last weekend's number one, "The Hitman's Bodyguard".
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Stephen King is one of America's greatest living writers and many of his books have already been adapted for screens both big and small. King's 1986 novel "It" was turned into a miniseries back in the early 1990s, and now King's classic horror has its own film version. The film, directed by Andy Muschietti, arrived in Korea on Wednesday and earned 418,124 admissions (20.3%) from 837 screens; worldwide, and from a production budget of $35 million, "It" has already grossed around $179.2 million ("It" was recently released in both America and China).
Patrick Hughes' "The Hitman's Bodyguard" (starring Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson) took first place last weekend with just 30% of the sales (556,090 admissions). Week two, however, was less profitable as only an additional 275,129 admissions (13.71%), from 378 screens (down from 482), were added, moving its total tally now to 1.2 million ($9.3 million). Jang Hoon's blockbuster "A Taxi Driver" (Song Kang-ho) was released early in August and remained unmoved in fourth. With the 106,911 admissions (4.79%) the film collected here, Kang's fourth film's total tally is now over 12 million admissions ($83.7 million). It is by far the most successful film of the year, but it is also now the ninth highest-grossing film of all time in Korea after "Masquerade" (12.3 million) and "Assassination" (12.7 million).
The local action comedy "Midnight Runners" by Kim Joo-hwan fell three places with 98,328 admissions (4.35%), followed by a new Japanese anime, "Cocotama The Movie 2017", on 77,783 (3.44%). Luc Besson's latest outing also move towards the wrong end of the chart: from 411 screens, down from 629, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" scored 58,092 admissions to bring its total tally to 491,324 ($3.4 million). The film is based on Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières' science-fiction comic "Valérian and Laureline" (1967 ~ 2010) and has currently grossed $211.3 million worldwide (the film was produced for around $180 million).
Choi Jin-seong's documentary thriller "The Reservoir Game" (with the "devilish" reporter Choo Chin-woo playing himself) attracted 34,447 admissions (1.59%) from 289 screens during its first weekend out, followed by the American drama "The Beguiled" on 20,996 (0.97%). Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled" is based on Thomas P. Cullinan's novel of the same name and stars Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. The final place was once again held by Choi Seungho's probing documentary "Criminal Conspiracy". With the 14.071 admissions (0.65%) the film earned here, its fourth weekend out, "Criminal Conspiracy"'s total gross at home now stands at $1.65 million (237,221 admissions).
Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.09.08 - 2017.09.10 (www.kobis.or.kr)
| # | Films | Release date | Week-end | Total |
| 1 | "Memoir of a Murderer" (살인자의 기억법) | 2017/09/06 | 899 986 | 1 191 748 |
| 2 | "It" | 418 454 | 572 469 | |
| 3 | "The Hitman's Bodyguard" | 275 321 | 1 273 502 | |
| 4 | "A Taxi Driver" (택시 운전사) | 2017/08/02 | 106 944 | 12 068 304 |
| 5 | "Midnight Runners" (청년경찰) | 2017/08/09 | 98 376 | 5 577 194 |
| 6 | "Cocotama The Movie 2017" | 77 783 | 87 894 | |
| 7 | "VALERIAN : The City of A Thousand Planets" | 58 119 | 491 351 | |
| 8 | "The Reservoir Game" (저수지 게임) | 2017/09/07 | 34 644 | 47 171 |
| 9 | "The Beguiled" | 21 023 | 34 479 | |
| 10 | "Criminal Conspiracy" (공범자들) | 2017/08/17 | 14 207 | 237 357 |
| Korean movies only | ||||
| "V.I.P" (브이아이피) | 2017/08/23 | 11 621 | 1 364 987 | |
| "The Table" (더 테이블) | 2017/08/24 | 9 158 | 89 608 | |
| "Suicide Made" (김광석) | 2017/08/30 | 4 462 | 41 995 | |
| "The Mimic" (장산범) | 2017/08/17 | 2 931 | 1 304 788 | |
| "I Can Speak" (아이 캔 스피크) | 2017/09/21 | 2 525 | 9 939 | |
| "Roman Holiday" (로마의 휴일) | 2017/08/30 | 1 873 | 131 371 | |
| "The Shower" (소나기) | 2017/08/31 | 1 348 | 7 842 | |
| "The Battleship Island" (군함도) | 2017/07/26 | 784 | 6 580 708 | |
| "Spirits' Homecoming, Unfinished Story" (귀향, 끝나지 않은 이야기) | 2017/09/14 | 536 | 3 772 | |
| "The Star Next Door" (이웃집 스타) | 2017/09/21 | 460 | 460 | |
- Christopher Wheeler