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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2016.09.02 ~ 2016.09.04

"Tunnel" eyes 7 million admissions...

"Tunnel", Kim Seong-hun's adaptation of So Jae-won's novel, is still leading the pack and remains unmoved as Korea's film of choice. Released early in the second week of August, Kim's third film (after "A Hard Day" and "How the Lack of Love Affects Two Men") has managed to fend off its cinematic rivals to claim its fourth straight week at the top of the charts. 344,729 admissions were added to the "Tunnel"'s total tally during the first week of September which brings the film's bottom line now to 6.9 million admissions, making it the fourth highest-grossing film released in Korea this year.

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The French-American action thriller "Mechanic: Resurrection" by Dennis Gansel arrived in Korea on the last day of August and during its first weekend out claimed 274,302 admissions for second place. Gansel's flick stars Jason Statham, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones in a sequel to the 2011 film "The Mechanic" (which was itself a remake of a 1972 film of the same name). "Mechanic: Resurrection" was made for an estimated $40 million but has thus far only managed to recuperate $20.6 million from international sales.

David F. Sandberg's directorial debut "Lights Outs" is a feature-length version of his 2013 short film that's already grossed an impressive $135.9 million, despite the fact that it took just $5 million to produce. "Lights Out" came close to overtaking Gansel's sequel by capturing the interest of 241,340 filmgoers in Korea during its second weekend out. The new "Ghostbusters" movie remained unmoved in fourth place, and with the 127,967 admissions gain over the weekend, the film moves its total tally to just 479,474; worldwide, "Ghostbusters" (which stars Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones) has grossed $218.1 million.

Two local films were up next in fifth and sixth place: Heo Jin-ho's historical melodrama "The Last Princess" (Son Ye-jin, Park Hae-il, Ra Mi-ran, Jung Sang-hoon) claimed just over 100,000 admissions, and Yeon Sang-ho's first live action film, "Train to Busan" (Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an), added an additional 57,080 admissions. "Train to Busan" is currently the highest-grossing film of the year and has spent over seven weeks on the charts so far. With this weekend's figures added, Yeon's atypical zombie film has attracted an incredible 11.5 million since its released late July.

The latest in the "Star Trek" series of sci-fi films, "Star Trek Beyond", fell two places to find itself in seventh with 53,529 admissions-moving it over million admissions total-followed by Illumination Entertainment's "The Secret Life of Pets" on 53,059 admissions. The controversial wartime film "Operation Chromite" has been steadily sliding down the charts since its release late July. Despite various criticisms against it, John H. Lee's "Operation Chromite" (Lee Jung-jae, Lee Beom-soo, Liam Neeson and Jin Se-yeon) has attracted over 7 million filmgoers; 36,944 admissions of which came from this past weekend. Lastly, Korea's top ten was rounded off by the American dystopian romantic drama "Equals" by Drake Doremus. "Equals" had its world premiere at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and has since received mixed reviews from critics since its American release mid-July. During the film's first weekend out in Korea, "Equals" (starring Nicholas Hoult and Kristen Stewart) claimed 32,656 admissions.

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.09.02 - 2016.09.04 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Tunnel" (터널) 2016/08/10 344 729 6 942 963
2 "Mechanic: Resurrection"   274 302 415 863
3 "Lights Out"   241 340 988 682
4 "Ghostbusters"   127 967 479 474
5 "The Last Princess" (덕혜옹주) 2016/08/03 100 708 5 528 976
6 "Train to Busan" (부산행) 2016/07/20 57 080 11 531 432
7 "Star Trek Beyond"   53 529 1 127 337
8 "The Secret Life of Pets"   53 059 2 514 118
9 "Operation Chromite" (인천상륙작전) 2016/07/27 36 944 7 033 158
10 "Equals"   32 656 56 268
Korean movies only  
  "Grandfather" (그랜드 파더) 2016/08/31 13 054 26 141
  "Worst Woman" (최악의 하루) 2016/08/25 11 078 56 837
  "The Map Against the World" (고산자, 대동여지도) 2016/09/07 5 250 8 656
  "Run-off" (국가대표2) 2016/08/10 5 229 707 315
  "The Queen of Crime" (범죄의 여왕) 2016/08/25 2 935 40 447
  "DETOUR" (올레) 2016/08/25 2 325 66 127
  "Bringing Tibet Home" (브링 홈 아버지의 땅) 2016/09/01 2 047 3 199
  "The Handmaiden" (아가씨) 2016/06/01 1 744 2 593
  "Power Battle Watchcar: Blazing Race" (파워배틀 와치카 미니카 배틀리그: 불꽃의 질주) 2016/08/17 1 532 34 393
  "Moonlight Palace" (달빛궁궐) 2016/09/07 1 330 3 067

 - Chris Wheeler

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