Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.09.29 - 2017.10.01

"Kingsman" sequel and local drama "I Can Speak" rule ahead of Chuseok...

Despite earning just 50,000 admissions less than its chart-topping take last weekend, Kim Hyun-seok's comedy-drama "I Can Speak" was swiftly overtaken by the foreign spy comedy "Kingsman: The Golden Circle". From a hefty 1,677 screens nationwide, Matthew Vaughn's sequel to the popular 2014 original - which he also directed and that grossed $414.4 million worldwide - has raced to 2.3 million admissions ($16.4 million), 1.5 million (64.48%) of which came from its first weekend out.

Advertisement

Director Kim Hyun-seok's sixth film had its screen count cut from 1,140 to 927 and gained 549,434 admissions (20.78%). Since its release two weeks ago, "I Can Speak" (starring Na Moon-hee and Lee Je-hoon) has grossed $11.1 million, or 1.6 million admissions. The top two films combined claimed 85% of the sales, just ahead of one of Korea's biggest national holidays, Chuseok.

Third place's total tally was significantly less and marked the watershed in the weekend's top ten. "Yo-Kai Watch Movie 3", a Japanese film that combines live-action with computer graphics, the third feature in the popular "Yo-Watch" franchise, only managed 81,951 admissions (2.89%), but it was good enough for a podium position. Not far behind was Won Shin-yun's new thriller, "Memoir of a Murder", starring Sol Kyung-gu. After it was denied a third straight weekend at the top last week, Won's fifth film is slowly reeling from big releases both foreign and domestic and fell to fourth here with 72,787 admissions (2.78%). Since its release early last month, "Memoir of a Murderer" has banked $18.4 million from 2.6 million admissions. The film requires another 100,000 admissions to overtake "Guardians of the Galaxy VOL. 2" and become the fifteenth highest-grossing film of the year.

"The Lego Ninjago Movie" entered the fray in fifth place with 67,100 stubs (2.39%), followed by the Edgar Wright's audacious action flick "Baby Driver" in sixth (down three places) with 35,954 (1.37%). "Baby Driver" was produced for $34 million and has currently grossed $224.6 million worldwide: Wright's most successful film to date. "The Hitman's Bodyguard" has been active in Korea's charts for over a month now; the American action comedy moved its bottom line to $11.8 million (1.6 million admissions), $170,863 of which (30,440 admissions) was banked over the weekend.

It was a close contest between eighth and ninth: the Disney Junior special "Sofia the First: The Mystic Isles" scored 16,573 admissions (0.55%) from 129 screens, while "The Invisible Ghost" (aka "Contratiempo") fell four places with just 16,514 (0.64%) going its way. The final spot went to a new local documentary by Lee Sang-ho ("The Truth Shall Not Sink with Sewol", 2014). In Lee's sophomore nonfiction film, "Suicide Made", he investigates the death of singer Kim Kang-seok twenty years after the fact. From 129 screens, "Suicide Made" claimed 14,888 admissions (0.58%) to round out the list of the weekend's top performers.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.09.29 - 2017.10.01 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Kingsman: The Golden Circle"   1 584 351 2 350 525
2 "I Can Speak" (아이 캔 스피크) 2017/09/21 549 436 1 649 352
3 "Yo-Kai Watch Movie 3" (映画 妖怪ウォッチ 空飛ぶクジラとダブル世界の大冒険だニャン!)   81 951 93 111
4 "Memoir of a Murderer" (살인자의 기억법) 2017/09/06 72 799 2 622 941
5 "The Lego Ninjago Movie"   67 100 75 054
6 "Baby Driver"   35 954 801 602
7 "The Hitman's Bodyguard"   30 440 1 645 640
8 "Sofia the First: The Mystic Isles"   16 573 17 783
9 "The Invisible Guest" (Contratiempo)   16 514 81 574
10 "Suicide Made" (김광석) 2017/08/30 14 888 82 945
Korean movies only  
  "The Fortress" (남한산성) 2017/10/03 6 834 19 196
  "Becoming Who I Was" (다시 태어나도 우리) 2017/09/27 5 305 8 729
  "The Outlaws" (범죄도시) 2017/10/03 2 774 30 408
  "The Reservoir Game" (저수지 게임) 2017/09/07 2 558 121 747
  "A Taxi Driver" (택시 운전사) 2017/08/02 1 616 12 182 376
  "The Running Actress" (여배우는 오늘도) 2017/09/14 1 470 13 340
  "Midnight Runners" (청년경찰) 2017/08/09 848 5 652 798
  "Dancesport Girls" (땐뽀걸즈) 2017/09/27 535 1 370
  "The Table" (더 테이블) 2017/08/24 484 101 711
  "Lost to Shame" (분장) 2017/09/27 432 1 642

- Christopher Wheeler

❎ Try Ad-free