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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2013.03.29 ~ 2013.03.31

The second G.I. Joe film has hit the Korean peninsula and, with help of Lee Byung-hun as 'Storm Shadow' no doubt, has managed to secure first position. "G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation" snatched 708,267 admissions (43%) over 761 screens to make it only the second foreign film this year to make it to number one. The Korean actor Lee Byung-hun ("Masquerade" and "I Saw the Devil") shows that he still has quiet some pull with fans as the Korean public, after a relatively quiet March, have warmly welcomed his latest action efforts.

Last week's number one "Very Ordinary Couple", by new director Roh Deok, fell back just the one place to end up on 361,060 (20.9%). Deok's debut film now moves on to 1,285,731 admissions since its release on March 21st. At number three, and also down one place, we find Yoon Jong-chan's forth film "Paparoti" starring Han Suk-kyu and Lee Je-hoon. "Paparoti" added 236,094 (12.3%) to its own efforts as this drama moves its total ticket count to 1,344,097. The zombie post-apocalyptic romance flick "Warm Bodies" is still holding its own, chewing off another 107,218 stubs to keep it alive in the top five.

Moving on to some more regular fixtures now, the first of which is Park Hoon-jung's "The New World". This is the sixth week in the chart for Park's cops and gangster flick, it has spent three of those weeks as number one but finds itself this week at number five with 104,099 (6%). "The New World" remains as the third highest grossing Korean film of year, well behind "The Berlin File" (7,165,501) and even further behind this year's number one, and this weekend's sixth, "Miracle in Cell No.7" (12,736,005). "Miracle in Cell No. 7" seems to have become a regular in the top ten now, with the new month marking its tenth week in the top ten. Lee Hwan-hyeong's smash hit added 44,877 (2.3%) to its total winnings this past weekend. That was promptly followed by the character-driven "Django Unchained", proving that despite Tarantino's Oscar winning efforts the Korea public are perhaps less attracted to postmodern re-telling's of America's turbulent racial history. Still the film carted off 34,685 (1.98%), putting the film's total admission count in Korea at 228,612.

"The Man Who Laughs" is a film based off of Victor Hugo's novel of the same name. Films set in France seem to want to do well in Korea ("Les Miserables" is still currently the highest grossing foreign film of the year), but this adaptation by Jean-Pierre Améris only managed 29,853 (1.6%) in its first weekend out. It was followed by the Japanese animation "One Piece Film Z" following suit with 22,229 (1.1%) of its own. Lastly, O Muel's "Jiseul" climbs its way into the top ten with 13,907. This one is a Korean war drama set in 1948 on the popular Jeju island (of which O Muel is a native), and actually won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival this year.

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend

2013.03.29 - 2013.03.31 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation"   708 267 830 048
2 "Very Ordinary Couple" (연애의 온도) 2013/03/21 361 060 1 285 731
3 "Paparoti" (파파로티) 2013/03/14 236 094 1 344 097
4 "Warm Bodies"   107 218 1 106 141
5 "The New World" (신세계) 2013/02/21 104 099 4 512 799
6 "Miracle in Cell No.7" (7번방의 선물) 2013/01/23 44 877 12 735 250
7 "Django Unchained"   34 685 228 612
8 "The Man Who Laughs (L'homme qui rit)"   29 853 37 357
9 "One Piece Film Z (ワンピース フィルム ゼット)"   22 229 79 873
10 "Jiseul" (지슬) 2013/03/21 13 907 58 592
Korean movies only  
  "Fist of Legend" (전설의 주먹) 2013/04/10 3 260 7 332
  "Running Man" (런닝맨) 2013/04/04 2 723 7 542
  "Following Sand River" (모래가 흐르는 강) 2013/03/28 2 527 4 551
  "Calling 4" (소명 하늘의 별) 2013/03/21 1 272 7 744
  "Nobody's Daughter Haewon" (누구의 딸도 아닌 해원) 2013/02/28 805 33 469
  "Good Friends" (좋은 친구들) 2013/03/28 578 945
  "Pororo, The Racing Adventure" (뽀로로의 슈퍼 썰매 대모험) 2013/01/24 362 928 812
  "The Gifted Hands" (사이코메트리) 2013/03/07 231 533 311
  "Don't Cry for Me Sudan" (울지마, 톤즈) 2010/09/09 170 443 103
  "Public Enemy" (공공의 적) 2002/01/25 115 116

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