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Korea Box Office: ‘The Croods’ Gets Boost From Children’s Day Public Holiday

Newly released “The Croods: A New Age” jostled with two previously-released titles to form a triumvirate at the top of the South Korean box office over the weekend of May 7-9, 2021.

But after a sprightly Wednesday, which was a national holiday, the weekend numbers were weak. Aggregate takings between Friday and Sunday were a lowly $2.57 million.

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Box office charts in Korea are typically ranked in order of ticket sales. Data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service showed “The Croods: A New Age” as the weekend winner, narrowly ahead of “Waiting for Rain” and “The Courier.”

In revenue terms, however, “The Courier” emerged on top with a Friday to Sunday haul of $394,000, ahead of “Waiting for Rain” with $391,000. Both movies were in their second weekend of release. They have cumulative totals of $1.88 million and $2.46 respectively.

“The Croods: A New Age” had a gross of $381,000 between Friday and Sunday. Its five-day total stands at $1.30 million, boosted by a strong Wednesday opening day.

Wednesday was the annual Children’s Day public holiday and provided a fillip for cinema-going. Some 326,000 tickets were sold on Wednesday. That was the highest single-day figure since Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) at the beginning of October last year. “The Croods: A New Age” enjoyed 102,000 ticket sales that day, more than double its weekend score, and the highest single day opening of any film in 2021.

In fourth and fifth places were long-playing titles “Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train” and “Minari.” “Demon Slayer” added $250,000 for a running total of $16.9 million. “Minari” earned $202,000 over the weekend for a cumulative of $8.81 million. It is only one of three films to have sold more than a million tickets in Korea this year.

Angelina Jolie- and Tyler Perry-starring “Those Who Wish me Dead” opened in seventh place. It scored $171,000 over the weekend and $362,000 in the five days since its Wednesday opening.

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