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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.07.21 - 2017.07.23

Nolan's "Dunkirk" arrives and conquers...

Christopher Nolan's critically acclaimed "Dunkirk" was released in Korea last Thursday and comfortably came out on top over the weekend. Many are already heralding it as one of the best war films ever and arguably Nolan's best. The film was shot on IMAX 65mm and is the first feature film to use IMAX cameras as hand-held cameras. From 1,245 screens, Nolan's epic depiction of "the Miracle of Dunkirk" sold 1.1 million admissions (46.53%), or $8.75 million. Its successful arrival meant "Spider-Man: Homecoming" was unable to claim a third straight weekend at the top.

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"Spider-Man: Homecoming" had its screen count cut in half during its third weekend out but still managed to bank another $3.97 million (21.12%). With those 533,440 admissions, the film's total gross in Korea swelled to just over $50 million and stands as the second highest-grossing film of the year behind "Confidential Assignment" ($56.99 million). Worldwide, "Homecoming" has grossed over half a billion.

The British survival horror flick "47 Meters Down" by director Johannes Roberts arrived just ahead of "Dunkirk" and claimed 301,086 admissions (11.95%) from 733 screens. In the film, Roberts' tenth, two sisters get trapped in a shark cage while diving with great whites in Mexico and have to find a way to survive the ordeal. Masakazu Hashimoto anime "Crayon Shin-chan: Invasion!! Alien Shiriri" opened its Korean account with 128,439 (4.61%), followed by the third instalment in Pixar and Disney's "Cars" series.

Last weekend "Cars 3" claimed second place with 10.86% of the sales (266,762) but failed to kick on and slipped to fifth here with 106,829 admissions (3.85%). "Cars 3"'s ticket count in Korea now stands at 2.8 million, or 431,988 admissions. Rob Reiner's romantic comedy "Flipped" (starring Madeline Carroll and Callan McAuliffe), based on the novel of the same name, fell two places to sixth; from 211 screens, the American adaptation attracted 63,522 thousand admissions (2.54%) and moved its takings to $1.92 million.

"Urfin Jus and His Wooden Soldiers" is a Russian 3D animation, the second in the "Magic Land" series of books by Alexander Volkov's about an alternative version of the well-known Land of Oz. The film claimed 1.58% of the sales, or 44,113 admissions ($298,170), from 342 screens. The only Korean film to feature in this weekend's chart was Lee Joon-ik's "Anarchist from Colony" starring Lee Je-hoon (as Park Yeol). Lee's eleventh film has been active in the top ten since its release late June, and with the 37,987 admissions it scored here, it's grossed $16 million (2.33 million admissions). Currently, "Anarchist from Colony" is the sixteenth highest-grossing film of the year behind Kim Tae-yoon's "New Trial" (2.4 million) and the foreign 3D animation "The Boss Baby" (2.45 million).

Aisling Walsh's biopic "Maudie" fell four places to ninth with 34,472 admissions (1.39%), and the final spot in the top ten went to an American newcomer, the supernatural horror "Wish Upon" by John R. Leonetti; from 279 screens, the "Wish Upon" scored 31,545 admissions (1.22%).

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.07.21 - 2017.07.23 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Dunkirk"   1 119 076 1 349 288
2 "Spider-Man: Homecoming"   533 752 6 854 146
3 "'47 Meters Down'"   301 520 439 748
4 "Crayon Shinchan 2017 2017 Theatrical Film: Invasion!! Alien Shiriri" (映画クレヨンしんちゃん: 襲来!! 宇宙人シリリ)   128 439 137 918
5 "Cars 3"   106 839 431 998
6 "Flipped"   63 571 267 915U
7 "Urfin and His Wooden Soldiers" (Urfin Dzhyus i ego derevyannye soldaty, Урфин Джюс и его деревянные солдаты, Fantastic Journey to OZ)   44 113 54 849
8 "Anarchist from Colony" (박열) 2017/06/28 38 006 2 338 262
9 "Maudie"   34 607 169 187
10 "Wish Upon"   31 657 41 819
Korean movies only  
  "A Taxi Driver" (택시 운전사) 2017/08/02 5 764 70 135
  "Our President" (노무현입니다) 2017/05/25 1 637 1 850 524
  "Real" (리얼) 2017/06/28 724 468 548
  "The Merciless" (불한당: 나쁜 놈들의 세상) 2017/05/17 657 935 520
  "The Day After - 2017" (그 후) 2017/07/06 602 17 166
  "The Battleship Island" (군함도) 2017/07/26 384 8 126
  "Troublers" (불온한 당신) 2017/07/20 324 1 417
  "Suh-Suh Pyoung, Slowly and Peacefully" (서서평, 천천히 평온하게) 2017/04/26 247 119 792
  "Farming Boys" (파밍 보이즈) 2017/07/13 245 2 277
  "Domestic Shorts 2: Deep Night Flight" (국내단편2: 깊은 밤을 날아서)   235 235

- Christopher Wheeler

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