Korea Box Office Slumps to Year’s Lowest Mark

Korean-made crime-comedy-thriller “I The Executioner,” a sequel to 2015 hit ‘Veteran,” continued to top South Korea’s weekend box office. Its victory, however, was a hollow one as Korea’s overall box office slumped to its lowest level this year.

Nationwide, Korea’s roughly 2,500 cinemas together earned just $4.39 million between Friday and Sunday.

In several previous years, the month of October has been weak for cinemas in Korea, but the latest weekend total was a lower mid-October mark than either COVID-blighted 2022 or 2023’s recovery year.

The latest figures are in line with some of the gloomy discussion at the recently-concluded Busan International Film Festival, where the difficulties currently faced by theatrical cinema and the companies that supply and distribute it, were major talking points.

“I, The Executioner” earned $1.08 million in its fifth full weekend session, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). The latest weekend increment gives “Executioner” a $52.0 million running total since releasing on Sept. 13. It is the fourth highest grossing film of the year in the country, behind “Exhuma,” “The Roundup: Punishment” and “Inside Out 2,” which is still some distance ahead on $64 million.

Romantic drama, “Love in the Big City” earned $874,000 in second place. It has a cumulative of $3.56 million since releasing on Oct. 1.

“The Wild Robot,” the top film in the world this weekend, came third in Korea in its second weekend of release. It earned $679,000 between Friday and Sunday for a cumulative of $2.97 million since arriving on Korean screens on Oct. 1.

“Joker: Folie a Deux” fell two places to fourth spot in its second weekend of release. It earned $381,000 for a running total of $4.49 million since also releasing on Oct. 1.

A rereleased 2004 film “The Notebook” took fifth position in the Korean chart. It earned $299,000.
Japanese animation, “The Colors Within” was the weekend’s highest-ranked new release. It opened only on Saturday (when most films in Korea launch on Wednesdays) and landed in sixth place overall. It scored $128,000 in two days.

“Transformers One” was close behind with $125,000 in seventh place. Since releasing on Sept. 25, it has accumulated $2.42 million.

Long-playing Korean animation, “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” collected a further $80,000. It has now topped $8.05 million since releasing on Aug. 7.

Japanese film, “Look Back” earned $75,900 for a cumulative of $1.92 million since its Sept. 5 debut in Korea. (Local charts based on admissions, not gross income, placed it eleventh.)

“Detective Conan: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper,” the Japanese animation which opened a week earlier, earned $74,100 for tenth place. Its two-week total is $582,000.

Thai comedy-drama film “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” opened outside the top ten in Korea. The film has been a huge hit in Southeast Asia and China, but in Korea took $27,100 over the weekend and $50,300 over five days.