In its fifteenth day of availability at South Korean theaters "#ALIVE" hit another milestone, claiming the number three spot on the South Korean box office for 2020. It narrowly outperformed the political comedy "An Honest Candidate", the last decently successful movie before the COVID-19 outbreak. "As of this writing "#ALIVE" has 1,626,042 admissions versus 1,536,682 admissions for "An Honest Candidate".
"#ALIVE" now looks ahead to the weekend to see if it can try to best number two on the list, "Hitman: Agent Jun" with 2,406,232 admissions. "The Man Standing Next", the current leader with 4,750,104 is probably too much for "#ALIVE" to handle, although the upcoming "Peninsula" next week has a good chance of possibly succeeding its total.
While COVID-19 has done much to damage the South Korean box office this year South Korean films relative to their foreign counterparts have done quite well overall. The lead held by foreign films at the South Korean box office from March to May is misleading, as all admissions during that period were negligible in the face of any significant release. Consequently the three highest performing movies in the South Korean market are also the three highest performing movies overall this year.
Written by William Schwartz
Staff writer. Has been writing articles for HanCinema since 2012, having lived in South Korea since 2011. Started out in Gyeongju, then to Daegu, then to Ansan, then to Yeongju, then to Seoul, lived on the road for HanCinema's travel diaries series in the summer of 2016, and is currently settled in Anyang. Has good tips for utilizing South Korea's public bus system. William Schwartz can be contacted via william@hancinema.net. He also has a substack at williamschwartz.substack.com where he discusses the South Korean film industry in broader terms and takes suggestions for future movies to review.
Related Movies & Dramas