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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.02.07 ~ 2014.02.09

"Frozen" re-solidifies itself at the top while "The Huntresses" melts away...

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After a hectic Lunar New Year weekend "Frozen" has managed to recapture the lead and pack on the pressure as it moved on to 7.7 million admissions ($57.9M). Last week it was Hwang Dong-hyuk's "Miss Granny" that stole the show, but after the holiday rush Hwang's comedy drama was forced back a place with its 1 million haul (31.6%). These two films were the only ones in contention for gold, and together they captured over 70% of the market share. A few of the new entries ("I, Frankenstein", "Another Family", and "The Lego Movie") held their own in the middle order while "Hot Young Bloods" and "The Huntresses" fell viciously to the wrong end of the chart.

Han Dong-wook's "When A Man Loves A Woman" managed to hold onto third place having jump up a spot last weekend. Han's melodrama was released late last month and has since amassed a healthy 1.7 million admissions ($11.9M). The film was allocated 404 screens and managed 212,021 (6.5%) stubs over this past weekend to secure a podium finish.

"I, Frankenstein" (186,870 - 5.6%), Kim Tae-yoon's "Another Family" (139,120 - 4.14%), and "The Lego Movie" (106,128 - 3%) were this week's the newcomers and occupied fourth through sixth respectfully. The new local flick "Another Family" is based on the true story of a man fighting the system when his eldest daughter dies of leukaemia, a disease she contracted while working at a semiconductor factory owned by Samsung. This, Kim's second feature after the 2006 film "A Cruel Attendance", stars Park Chul-min and Yoon Yoo-sun as the heart-warming father-daughter duo on display.

Peter Lepeniotis's "The Nut Job" (a co-production between Canada, South Korea, and the United States) entered the charts last week at seven; a position it maintained here with 94,362 (2.65%) admissions to its credit. The film had a budget of $42.8 million and, despite not performing terribly well in Korea, this animated heist flick is currently in the black having amassed $58M worldwide. "The Nut Job 2" is also on the cards and is scheduled for release early in 2016.

Rounding out this past weekend's top tier films was the hugely popular true-life drama "The Attorney", the lukewarm "Hot Young Bloods", and the massively disappointing "The Huntresses". Yang Woo-seok's "The Attorney" has been in the top ten now for an incredible eight weeks now, a scintillating stint that has resulted in 11.3 million admissions ($76.7M), and the newly acquired honour of being the eighth highest grossing Korean film of all-time. The film recently surpassed "Silmido" ($11M) but will have its work cut out for it if it wants to challenge the epic disaster film "Haeundae" (11.3M). The film needs roughly 89,000 more stubs to advance any further in Korea's all-time top ten.

Lee Yeon-woo's "Hot Young Bloods" took a serious tumble and fell from fourth all the way to ninth. Last week this teen romance scored 280,936 admissions, but struggled here in week three and managed just 61,314 (1.8%). But perhaps the biggest disappointed was Park Je-hyeon's historical action flick: "The Huntresses". This Joseon-based romp entered the chart last week hoping to capture the attention of the Lunar New Year crowds, but instead attracted less than 300,000. Week two was even more brutal as Park's sophomore feature plummeted to tenth with a whimpering 17,766 admissions.

 

What's coming out next week in Korea?: [HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...

Last weekend's report: [HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.01.31 - 2014.02.02

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.02.07 - 2014.02.09 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Frozen"   1 170 507 7 784 126
2 "Miss Granny" (수상한 그녀) 2014/01/23 1 042 410 5 738 831
3 "When A Man Loves A Woman" (남자가 사랑할 때) 2014/01/22 212 021 1 752 330
4 "I, Frankenstein"   186 870 230 885
5 "Another Family" (또 하나의 약속) 2014/02/06 139 120 175 837
6 "The Lego Movie"   106 128 113 425
7 "The Nut Job"   94 362 431 282
8 "The Attorney" (변호인) 2013/12/19 75 094 11 308 672
9 "Hot Young Bloods" (피끓는 청춘) 2014/01/23 61 314 1 643 786
10 "The Huntresses" (조선미녀삼총사) 2014/01/29 17 766 470 788
Korean movies only  
  "Venus Talk" (관능의 법칙) 2014/02/13 1 298 17 281
  "Deaf Samryongi" (벙어리 삼룡이, 1964) - Re-release   304 2 791
  "Nobody's Daughter Haewon" (누구의 딸도 아닌 해원) 2013/02/28 273 35 396
  "Apostle" (신이 보낸 사람) 2014/02/13 255 5 044
  "Jiseul" (지슬 - 끝나지 않은 세월2) 2013/03/21 250 144 146
  "Hyperbole of Youth" (청춘쌍곡선, 1956) - Re-release   218 218
  "My Place" (마이 플레이스) 2014/01/30 212 1 377
  "A Woman on the Verge" (위기의 여자, 1987) - Re-release   168 168
  "Tang Poetry" (당시, 2005) - Re-release   123 426
  "The Dinner - 2013" (만찬) 2014/01/23 90 1 669

 

- C.J. Wheeler (chriscjw@gmail.com@KoreaOnTheCouch)

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