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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.06.24 ~ 2016.06.26

"Independence Day: Resurgence" arrives and thrives under Korean conditions...

It's been two decades since Roland Emmerich's aliens met Will Smith in "Independence Day", but now the invading extraterrestrials and back for another attack on our Pale Blue Dot. "Independence Day: Resurgence", also directed by Emmerich, but still short a Smith, arrived in Korea on Wednesday and landed firmly in first place with 695,000 admissions (35.7%) across 926 screens.

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That meant that Jon Favreau's "The Jungle Book" was denied a third-straight weekend as Korea's number one, but the 349,664 (16.%) it amassed over the weekend was enough to push its total tally now to 2.2 million, or $16.2 million. Disney's remake of their 1967 classic was given a glorious 3D makeover and has grossed almost a billion dollars worldwide since its release early this year.

The highest positioned Korea film came next with Kwon Jong-gwan's crime drama "Proof of Innocence" starring Kim Myung-min, Kim Sang-ho, Seong dong-il and Kim Young-ae. Released on June 16, "Proof of Innocence" failed to overthrow "The Jungle Book" at the top of the chart during its first weekend out and has subsequently slipped a place thanks to Emmerich's blockbusting sequel. From the 520 screens allocated to Kwon's third feature, 235,881 admissions were added to bring the film's bottom line now to $6.9 million (roughly 1 million admissions).

James Wan's supernatural horror flick "The Conjuring 2" took fourth place by finding another 201,907 admissions (10%), followed by Park Chan-wook's "The Handmaiden" which grabbed 7.6% of the box office pie (153,831 admissions). "The Handmaiden" has now sold over four million admissions ($28.5 million) making this dark thriller one of Park's most commercially successful flicks on home soil. Lee Kyoung-mi's second feature film, "The Truth Beneath" starring Son Ye-jin and Kim Joo-hyuk, was the only new local release to force a reshuffle in the top ten. From its 501 screens, the film attracted 136,066 filmgoers (2.9%) to settle in sixth behind Park's latest.

The American-British comedy "Me Before You" by Thea Sharrock arrived in Korea at the beginning of June, and with the 59,521 admissions (2.9%) Sharrock's romantic drama gathering over the weekend, the film now has 775,342 admissions to its name, or $5.4 million. "Me Before You" took $20 million to make and it's closing in on $100,000 million ($87 million) in sales worldwide.

"Criminal", an action thriller by Ariel Vromen, was also released on Wednesday, but it only managed to capture 1.8% of filmgoers (44,415 admissions) during its first weekend out and about. In ninth place with 36,562 admissions was "Warcraft" (down four places), a film based on the popular series of video games of the same name, followed by Na Hong-jin's latest thriller: "The Wailing". "The Wailing" was released mid-May, and with the 20,358 thousand stubs it gathering over the weekend, the film now stands on 6.8 million admissions ($47.4 million).

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.06.24 - 2016.06.26 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Independence Day: Resurgence"   699 681 986 483
2 "The Jungle Book"   350 586 2 215 844
3 "Proof of Innocence" (특별수사: 사형수의 편지) 2016/06/16 237 966 1 002 363
4 "The Conjuring 2"   204 807 1 644 708
5 "The Handmaiden" (아가씨) 2016/06/01 155 199 4 056 255
6 "The Truth Beneath" (비밀은 없다) 2016/06/23 137 165 193 727
7 "Me Before You"   59 755 775 576
8 "Criminal"   44 925 74 160
9 "Warcraft"   36 939 1 144 003
10 "The Wailing" (곡성) 2016/05/12 20 569 6 851 529
Korean movies only  
  "The World of Us" (우리들) 2016/06/16 5 249 16 334
  "Seondal: The Man Who Sells the River" (봉이 김선달) 2016/07/06 2 623 4 364
  "Canola" (계춘할망) 2016/05/19 800 478 673
  "Night Song" (삼례) 2016/06/23 597 1 355
  "Madam White Snake" (백사부인) 1960/10/02 412 854
  "Prince Yeonsan" (연산군, 1961) - Re-release   351 4 423
  "Familyhood" (굿바이 싱글) 2016/06/29 322 29 919
  "The King of Comedy 2" (희극지왕 2) - 15th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival   317 317
  "A Melody to Remember" (오빠 생각) 2016/01/21 246 1 069 962
  "The Six Sense 1" (식스 센스 1) - 15th Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival   242 242

- Chris Wheeler

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