K-Film News & Box Office [2006, May 9]

Perhaps the best example is Hwang In-Roi of 궁 (Princess Hours), who after a long career as assistant producer on TV ever since the 수사반장 (Chief Inspector) days directed some films flopping at the box office, including the 1997 melodrama 꽃을 든 남자 (A Man With Flowers) with Kim Seung-Woo and Shim Hye-Jin. 천국의 계단 (Stairway To Heaven)'s Lee Jang-Soo also directed a film, the 1999 melodrama 러브 (Love) with Jung Woo-Sung and Go So-Young, which has already been forgotten -- for a reason. The only Pd to ever succeed in Chungmuro so far has been Oh Jong-Rok of 피아노 (Piano), making it big with the terrible comedy 첫사랑 사수 궐기대회 (Crazy First Love). The press wonders why such a trend exist, but looking at the kind of PDs who debut in the film world would probably give you the answer. Although if Hwang In-Roi directed a film today it would at least look great, as shown by the production values of Princess Hours, all the others are mostly producers of by-the-numbers Trendy Dramas with very little style, especially in aesthetic and cinematic terms. Even Ahn Pan-Seok, as good as some of his Dramas are, mostly dealt with traditional Family Dramas, where dialogue, acting and character development is the key (and, sure enough, those were the things critics liked in Over The Border). If there's anyone who should debut in films and could make it big, that's Lee Jae-Gyu of 다모 (Damo) and 패션 70s (Fashion Seventies), who showed remarkable cinematic humanism in both works. Other possible candidates are Park Chan-Hong of 부활 (Rebirth), master Lee Byung-Hoon of 대장금 (Dae Jang Geum) and 서동요 (The Ballad of Seo Dong), Park Sung-Soo of 네 멋대로 해라 (Ruler of Your Own World), and why not... even Kim Jae-Gyu of 이 죽일놈의 사랑 (A Love to Kill) -- the script ruined the Drama, not his direction. Then we might have PDs making it big at the box office, too. [Maxmovie]

That of plastic surgery has always been quite a touchy subject in Korean culture, but Korean films rarely touch the subject, unless it's to poke fun at it -- like Kim Jung-Eun's role in 재밌는 영화 (Fun Movie), situation which parodies Kim Yoon-Jin's character in 쉬리 (Shiri). But it looks like this will change in 2006, as quite a few works in production right now deal with the issue. The most likely to cause controversy is Kim Ki-Duk's 13th film 시간 (Time), where Sung Hyun-Ah undergoes plastic surgery to reignite the relationship with her boyfriend -- played by Ha Jung-Woo of 용서받지 못한 자 (The Unforgiven). Although very little info is available, as always with Kim's films, it looks like a central theme of the film will be the obsession towards beauty, plastic surgery and all the consequences coming from it. Another interesting example, although a little more commercial, is Kim Yong-Hwa's 미녀는 괴로워 (200 Pounds Beauty), starring Joo Jin-Mo and rising star Kim Ah-Joong of 별난여자 별난남자 (The Bizarre Bunch). The romcom is adapted from a manga by Suzuki Yumiko, and tells the story of an 'ugly, fat' girl turning into a sexy singer after 'fixing' her little problems. But there's also a few horror films dealing with the issue, like Bong Man-Dae's horror 신데렐라 (Cinderella) with Lee Ji-Hyun, Do Ji-Won and Shin Se-Kyung, and Im Dae-Woong's 스승의 은혜 (The Teacher's Mercy), with Oh Mi-Hee and Seo Young-Hee. The former features a plastic surgeon and the strange accidents resulting from her sense of 'motherhood', while the latter deals with Lee Ji-Hyun's addiction to plastic surgery after all the pain she suffered in her youth for her appearance. So far the issue is mostly a scapegoat to create easy scandals, so hopefully these films will raise the debate a few notches. [Star News]

=====================================
BOX OFFICE - April 28/30
=====================================
[Film2.0]

1.
Mission: Impossible 3
Official Website
2006 USA - dir. J. J. Abrams
[Cast: Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q]
Distributed By UIP - Released on May 4
52% (New) Share - 3,338 (New) Per Screen Avg. - 460 Screens (New) Nationwide [124 in Seoul]
414,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
542,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
1,642,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

--

2.
사생결단 (Bloody Tie)
Official Website
2006 KOREA - dir. Choi Ho
[Cast: Hwang Jung-Min, Ryu Seung-Beom, Chu Ja-Hyun, Ha Hee-Ra]
Distributed By MK Pictures - Released on April 27
13.4% (-20.3%) Share - 1,701 (-663) Per Screen Avg. - 308 Screens (-55) Nationwide [63 in Seoul]
107,173 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
467,988 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
1,550,673 Tickets Sold Nationwide

--

3.
맨발의 기봉이 (Barefoot Gi-Bong)
Official Website
2006 KOREA - dir. Kwon Su-Kyung
[Cast: Shin Hyun-Joon, Kim Soo-Mi, Tak Jae-Hoon]
Distributed By Showbox - Released on April 27
12.1% (-7.8%) Share - 1,731 (+55) Per Screen Avg. - 312 Screens (-20) Nationwide [56 in Seoul]
96,986 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
339,247 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
1,433,764 Tickets Sold Nationwide

--

4.
Ice Age 2
Official Website
2006 USA - dir. Carlos Saldanha
[Voices: Rey Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Seann William Scott, Queen Latifah]
Distributed By Fox Korea - Released on April 20
6.4% (-2%) Share - 1,287 (+480) Per Screen Avg. - 186 Screens (-30) Nationwide [40 in Seoul]
51,500 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
249,200 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
777,500 Tickets Sold Nationwide

--

5.
국경의 남쪽 (Over The Border)
Official Website
2006 KOREA - dir. Ahn Pan-Seok
[Cast: Cha Seung-Won, Jo Yi-Jin, Shim Hye-Jin, Yoo Hae-Jin, Song Jae-Ho]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - Released on May 4
5.6% (New) Share - 762 (New) Per Screen Avg. - 183 Screens (New) Nationwide [59 in Seoul]
45,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
55,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
160,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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6.
달콤, 살벌한 연인 (My Scary Girl)
Official Website
2006 KOREA - dir. Son Jae-Gon
[Cast: Park Yong-Woo, Choi Kang-Hee, Jo Eun-Ji, Jung Kyung-Ho, Lee Hee-Do]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - Released on April 6
3.5% (-7.8%) Share - 800 (-440) Per Screen Avg. - 130 Screens (-60) Nationwide [35 in Seoul]
28,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
736,000 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
2,231,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

--

7.
도마뱀 (Love Phobia)
Official Website
2006 KOREA - dir. Kang Ji-Eun
[Cast: Kang Hye-Jung, Jo Seung-Woo, Kang Shin-Il, Byun Joo-Yeon]
Distributed By Cinema Service - Released on April 27
2.5% (-9.2%) Share - 511 (-421) Per Screen Avg. - 185 Screens (-118) Nationwide [39 in Seoul]
19,950 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
136,550 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
372,050 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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8.
Hoodwinked
Official Website
2005 USA - dir. Cory Edwards
[Voices: Kim Soo-Mi, Kang Hye-Jung, No Hong-Cheol, Im Ha-Ryong, Lee Jang-Won]
Distributed By Showbox - Released on April 6
2.4% (-0.7%) Share - 921 (+315) Per Screen Avg. - 100 Screens (-30) Nationwide [21 in Seoul]
19,348 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
294,103 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
977,640 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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9.
超劇場版 ケロロ軍曹 (Sergeant Keroro)
Official Website
2006 Japan - dir. Sato Junichi
[Voices: Watanabe Kumiko, Kozakura Etsuko, Nakada Yuji, Saki Aibu, Arakaki Yui]
Distributed By Lotte Entertainment - Released on May 4
1.0% (New) Share - 2,814 (New) Per Screen Avg. - 28 Screens (New) Nationwide [3 in Seoul]
8,442 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
8,941 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
47,819 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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10.
The Constant Gardener
Official Website
2005 UK/Germany - dir. Fernando Meirelles
[Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Rachel Weisz, Danny Huston, Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite]
Distributed By Sponge - Released on May 4
0.7% (New) Share - 650 (New) Per Screen Avg. - 29 Screens (New) Nationwide [8 in Seoul]
5,202 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Weekend)
6,978 Tickets Sold in Seoul (Total)
10,842 Tickets Sold Nationwide

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xx.
마이캡틴, 김대출 (My Captain, Kim Dae-Chul)
2006 KOREA - dir. [Cast: Jung Jae-Young, Lee Gi-Young, Jang Seo-Hee]
107,652 Tickets Sold Nationwide

==============================================
COMPLETE BOX OFFICE LIST - 2006
==============================================
[Sources: KOFIC, nKino]

01. 6,105,431 - 투사부일체 (My Boss, My Teacher)
02. 2,575,999 - 음란서생 (Forbidden Quest)
03. 2,231,000 - 달콤, 살벌한 연인 (My Scary Girl)
04. 2,042,554 - 청춘만화 (Almost Love)
05. 1,858,668 - 구세주 (Oh! My God)
06. 1,824,822 - 흡혈형사 나도열 (Vampire Cop Ricky)
07. 1,550,673 - 사생결단 (Bloody Tie)
08. 1,458,896 - 홀리데이 (Holiday)
09. 1,433,764 - 맨발의 기봉이 (Barefoot Gi-Bong)
10. 1,313,727 - 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting)
11. 1,021,639 - 데이지 (Daisy)
12. 1,016,152 - 야수 (Running Wild)
13. 740,489 - 방과후 옥상 (See You After School)
14. 680,207 - 여교수의 은밀한 매력 (Bewitching Attraction)
15. 629,596 - 백만장자의 첫사랑 (A Millionnaire's First Love)
16. 529,138 - 사랑을 놓치다 (Lost in Love)
17. 423,965 - 로망스 (Romance)
18. 372,050 - 도마뱀 (Love Phobia)
19. 172,693 - 손님은 왕이다 (The Customer Is Always Right)
20. 160,000 - 국경의 남쪽 (Over The Border)
21. 132,000 - 연리지 (Now and Forever)
22. 107,652 - 마이캡틴, 김대출 (My Captain, Kim Dae-Chul)
23. 83,293 - 카리스마 탈출기 (The Legend of 7 Cutter)
24. 46,239 - 썬데이 서울 (Sunday Seoul)
25. 13,606 - 다섯 개의 시선 (If You Were Me 2)
26. 7,998 - 마법사들 (The Magicians)
27. 4,703 - 모두들, 괜찮아요? (Family Matters)
28. 2,697 - 피터팬의 공식 (The Peter Pan Formula)
29. 2,091 - 망종 (Grain In Ear)
30. 1,630 - 눈부신 하루 (One Shining Day)
31. 1,508 - 신성일의 행방불명 (The Forgotten Child: Shin Sung Il Is Lost)
32. 783 - 달려라 장미 (Way to Go, Rose)
33. 21 - 창공으로... (To The Sky)

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

01. 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) - 12,298,280 [2005]
02. 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) - 11,746,135 [2004]
03. 실미도 (Silmido) - 11,108,000 [2003]
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) - 6,105,431 [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]