Korean Box Office Report - February 17/19

Yes, a mere hundred thousand tickets and Lee's third film will become the second most successful of all time. And since the film has been selling around 100,000 tickets per day, that means in a couple of hours the record will be broken. Still screening at over 270 screens nationwide, the film beat all the competition climbing back one spot to No. 1, selling 113,000 tickets in Seoul over the last four days, for a nationwide total of 390,000. That's around 750,000 for the entire week, score certain films take a month to reach. This is the 8th week on release for the Historical Drama, and now marketing is even using the allure of a 'Ten Million seller' to grab the few remaining tickets to become the top dog. Now the next step is not even beating 'Taegukgi', but becoming the first ever Korean film to sell 12 Million tickets. And then the clowns will really be the Kings, whatever Yeonsan says.

Getting trashed all over Korean Media, the comedy 구세주 (Oh! My God) was seen by... everyone who already saw 'The King and The Clown', I guess. Despite Show East's aggressive marketing, and the curiosity of Shin Yi and Choi Sung-Guk's first ever leading roles, the film is very unlikely to catch fire, looking at what's debuting next week. Still, very good debut, with almost 100,000 tickets in Seoul and over 400,000 nationwide in 4 days, for a total of over 500,000. This is the third consecutive domestic comedy to do well, confirming how much Koreans like to laugh all their way to theaters. The other two are Kim Soo-Ro's first solo lead in 흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky) and the gangster comedy 투사부일체 (My Boss, My Teacher).

On its second week of release, the vampire comedy sold 75,000 tickets in Seoul and around 300,000 nationwide over the weekend. It has already passed the million, and is now looking at 1.5 Million tickets, probably by mid-week already (should have no problem reaching the 2 Million). And of course 'My Boss, My Teacher' has slowed down considerably, but if it weren't for the clowns, its performance would be on the mouth of everyone. A sequel of 2001's 두사부일체 (My Boss, My Hero), the film already passed the 6 Million tickets, after selling 29,000 tickets in Seoul and over 100,000 nationwide over the weekend. Not much likely to stay in the Top 10 for long, but it's already become the 7th most successful Korean film of all time, even beating Park Chan-Wook's 공동경비구역 JSA (Joint Security Area), and 쉬리 (Shiri)'s 6th place is a mere 200,000 tickets away.

But while Hollywood films continue to do badly, Indie films with limited releases are impressing with their performances. Inudo Isshin メゾン ド ヒミコ (Maison De Himiko) sold almost 50,000 tickets from only 5 screens, and the animation film あらしのよるに (Stormy Night) already passed the 100,000 mark. Although by no means a revolution, Independent and foreign films with no International stars are cutting themselves a little piece of the pie, and when intelligently marketed -- like Broken Flowers, which is still screening and pulling respectable numbers, despite the tiny release -- the result is quite satisfactory. If the government's promise to invest in theaters dedicated to independent cinema comes into fruition, it could mean films like 'Maison De Himiko' will enjoy releases of 20 or more screens in the future, which is much better than just slapping a film on DVD after a token 2-screen/3-days theater run.

This week should make for an interesting battle at the box office. Two extremely well received Korean films debut, the black comedy 손님은 왕이다 (The Customer is Always Right) and the sexy Fusion Drama 음란서생 (Forbidden Quest). Although 'Customer' might be a sleeper hit at least for a weekend, given its style and genre, it's the latter film which will attract the biggest attention. With an interesting cast (Han Suk-Gyu, Lee Beom-Soo, Kim Min-Jung, Oh Dal-Soo) and directed by the writer of 스캔들 (Untold Scandal) Kim Dae-Woo, there's a good chance 'Quest' will even give a few headaches to the clowns, as it's the first 'big' Korean release since 'My Boss, My Teacher'. I might be jumping the ball here, but I think 'Forbidden Quest' might end up doing extremely well, if the press screening reaction is anything to go by. Perhaps even in the 3 Million range, which would be a nice comeback to success for Han. Also releasing the indie omnibus 눈부신 하루 (One Shining Day) and the Hollywood films Underworld: Evolution and Zathura.

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Box Office Top 10 - February 17/19
==========================

1.
왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown)
2005 KOREA - dir. Lee Joon-Ik [Cast: Gam Woo-Sung, Jung Jin-Young]
Distributed By Cinema Service - 20.5% (-0.7%) Share - 1,992 Per Screen Avg. - 270 Screens (-15)
10,999,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

2.
구세주 (Oh! My God)
2006 KOREA - dir.Kim Jung-Woo [Cast: Shin Yi, Choi Sung-Guk]
Distributed By Show East - 17.4% (New) Share - 1,928 Per Screen Avg. - 252 Screens (New)
534,875 Tickets Sold Nationwide

3.
흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky)
2006 KOREA - dir. Lee Si-Myung [Cast: Kim Soo-Ro, Son Byung-Ho]
Distributed By Showbox - 13.5% (-9.6%) Share - 1,322 Per Screen Avg. - 280 Screens (-34)
1,331,969 Tickets Sold Nationwide

4.
Munich
2005 USA - dir. Steven Spielberg [Cast: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - 11.2% (-3.9%) Share - 1,388 Per Screen Avg. - 180 Screens (-13)
640,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

5.
Saw 2
2005 USA - dir. Darren Bousman [Cast: Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith]
Distributed By Mirovision - 9.7% (New) Share - 1,871 Per Screen Avg. - 125 Screens (New)
191,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

6.
Firewall
2005 USA - dir. Richard Loncraine [Cast: Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany]
Distributed by Warner - 6.5% (New) Share - 1,613 Per Screen Avg. - 105 Screens (New)
103,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

7.
Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 USA - dir. Rob Marshall [Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li]
Distributed By Sony Pictures - 5.5% (-3.9%) Share - 794 Per Screen Avg. - 40 Screens
900,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

8.
투사부일체 (My Boss, My Teacher)
2006 KOREA - dir. Kim Dong-Won [Cast: Jung Joon-Ho, Kim Sang-Joong]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - 5.2% (-4.3%) Share - 725 Per Screen Avg. - 202 Screens (-39)
6,002,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

9.
백만장자의 첫사랑 (The Millionaire's First Love)
2006 KOREA - dir. Kim Tae-Gyun [Cast: Hyun Bin, Lee Yeon-Hee]
Distributed By Lotte Entertainment - 3.5% (-5.8%) Share - 639 Per Screen Avg. - 193 Screens (-68)
552,634 Tickets Sold Nationwide

10.
あらしのよるに (Stormy Night)
2005 JAPAN - dir. Sugii Gisaburo [Voices: Takeuchi Riki, Narimiya Hiroki]
Distributed By MK Pictures - 2.2% (-0.8) Share - 813 Per Screen Avg. - 68 Screens (-26)
154,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

xx.
メゾン ド ヒミコ (Maison De Himiko)
2005 JAPAN - dir Inudo Isshin [Cast: Odagiri Jo, Shibasaki Kou]
Distributed By Sponge - 1,601 Per Screen Avg. - 5 Screens (New)
46,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

xx.
썬데이 서울 (Ssunday Seoul)
2006 KOREA - dir. Park Sung-Hoon [Cast: Bong Tae-Gyu, Lee Cheong-Ah]
Distributed By Cinema Service - 11 Screens (-99)
45,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

xx.
신성일의 행방불명 (Shin Sung-Il Is Lost)
2006 KOREA - dir. Shin Jane [Cast: Jo Hyung-Shik, Ye Soo-Jung]
Distributed By Sponge - 3 Screens
534 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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2006 Box Office Top 10 (Korean Films)
===========================

01. 투사부일체 (My Boss, My Teacher) - 6,002,000
02. 홀리데이 (Holiday) - 1,346,000
03. 흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky) - 1,331,969
04. 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting) - 1,273,000
05. 야수 (Running Wild) - 1,013,678
06. 백만장자의 첫사랑 (The Millionaire's First Love) - 552,634
07. 구세주 (Oh! My God) - 534,875
08. 사랑을 놓치다 (Lost in Love) - 470,000
09. 썬데이 서울 (Sunday Seoul) - 45,000
10. 다섯개의 시선 (If You Were Me 2) - 4,500

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All Time Box Office Top 20 (Korean Films)
=============================

01. 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) - 11,746,135 [2004]
02. 실미도 (Silmido) - 11,108,000 [2003]
03. 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) - 10,999,000 [2005]
04. 친구 (Friend) - 8,180,000 [2001]
05. 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) - 8,002,594 [2005]
06. 쉬리 (Shiri) - 6,210,000 [1999]
07. 투사부일체 (My Boss, My Teacher) - 6,002,000 [2006]
08. 공동경비구역 JSA (Joint Security Area) - 5,830,000 [2000]
09. 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2) - 5,663,000 [2005]
10. 조폭 마누라 (My Wife is a Gangster) - 5,250,000 [2001]
11. 가문의 영광 (Marrying the Mafia) - 5,200,001 [2002]
12. 말아톤 (Marathon) - 5,148,022 [2005]
13. 살인의 추억 (Memories of Murder) - 5,120,000 [2003]
14. 엽기적인 그녀 (My Sassy Girl) - 4,841,500 [2001]
15. 동갑내기 과외하기 (My Tutor Friend) - 4,810,000 [2003]
16. 신라의 달밤 (Kick The Moon) - 4,353,800 [2001]
17. 태풍 (Typhoon) - 4,180,000 [2005]
18. 집으로 (The Way Home) - 4,091,000 [2002]
19. 색즉시공 (Sex is Zero) - 4,089,900 [2002]
20. 공공의 적 2 (Another Public Enemy) - 3,911,356 [2005]

[Sources: Film2.0, nKino]