‘Hansan’ Holds Off ‘Emergency Declaration’ for Busy Korea Box Office Weekend
“Emergency Declaration,” a timely Korean-made action thriller, flew to an opening weekend of $6.5 million. But it was old-fashioned naval actioner “Hansan: Rising Dragon” that stayed afloat at the top of the South Korean box office for a second week.
“Hansan,” a sequel to a 2014 record breaker, earned $9.18 million from over 1,600 screens, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was a week on week decrease of 32%. Its market share fell from 60% to 45%. Still, after 12 days in Korean cinemas, “Hansan” has accumulated $36.0 million and is now the fourth highest grossing film of the year to date.
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“Emergency Declaration,” which had a special screening in Cannes last year, and had been rescheduled several times, finally got to fly on Wednesday. It took off strongly for distributor Showbox and topped the daily charts on Wednesday and Thursday. But the film flew into turbulence over the weekend when it came off second with $6.50 million from 1,718 screens and a market share of 32%. Over five days, it accumulated a quick $10.8 million.
Imax reported that the film scored $488,000 on Imax screens in Korea, the fifth strongest opening for a Korean film on the Imax circuit.
The effect of two high-performing local films was to keep cinemas busy. Nationwide Korea’s aggregate box office was $20.4 million, following a $22.0 million aggregate the previous weekend.
“Top Gun Maverick” earned $1.58 million in third place, extending its cumulative to a sky high $60.0 million since take-off on June 22, 2022.
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” earned $1.34 million in fourth place, extending its three-week cumulative to $14.7 million.
Korean-made animation, “Pororo Movie – Dragon Castle Adventure” added $523,000 in its second weekend for an 11-day cumulative of $2.63 million.
Art-house detective thriller “Decision to Leave” added $393,000, building its case to $14.1 million after six weekends on release.
Korean sci-fi actioner “Alienoid” took $352,000 in its third weekend. Its cumulative now stands at $12.0 million.
New release Japanese animation “Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Little Star Wars 2021” took $156,000 over the weekend and $265,000 over its opening five days in eighth place. Ninth spot belonged to “Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween” with $89,000 over the weekend and $3.53 since release on July 13.
“The Hunt,” the 1980s-set espionage thriller directed by “Squid Game” star Lee Jung-jae will open officially on Wednesday (Aug. 10, 2022). But its previews on 12 screens were good enough for $48,000 and tenth place over the weekend.
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