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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.04.21 - 2017.04.23

"The Fate of the Furious" retains pole position...

The eighth instalment in the "Fast and the Furious" series of action films, "The Fate of the Furious", claimed pole position during its second weekend out, moving its bottom line to over $18.9 million (2.5 million admissions). From 1,282 screens (down from 1,468), F. Gary Gray's high-octane action outing captured 57.29% of the sales (678,179 admissions; worldwide, "F8" has now grossed more than $772.4 million.

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"Daddy You, Daughter Me" (starring Yoon Je-moon and Jung So-min), Kim Hyeong-hyeop's debut, was released at the same time as this week's number one and remained unmoved in second with 159,705 admissions (12.79%). Kim's comedy has so far banked $3.76 million (540,701 admissions).

Not too far behind was Korea's third highest-grossing film of the year (and highest foreign film), Bill Condon's "Beauty and the Beast" (Emma Watson and Dan Stevens). Since its release in Korea mid-March, Disney's remake of its 1991 classic has sold over 5 million admissions in Korea alone ($36.2 million), 104,590 of which came from this past weekend. Incredibly, the film's popularity around the world has pushed its profits over the billion-dollar mark; "Beauty and the Beast" was produced for $160 million.

The highest new entry went to the latest "Power Rangers" film by director Dean Israelite. The film, which is based on characters from the franchise of the same name, was allocated 478 screens around the country during its first weekend out and captured 3.94% of the weekend sales (50,013 admissions, or $432,242).

Nah Hyeon has written the screenplays for eight other films and has acted in several others, but "The Prison", an action crime flick, is his first as director. This is the fifth week out for Hyeon's directorial debut, and the 29,016 admissions (2.44%) it claimed here pushes its total tally bow to 2.9 million, or $20.8 million. Currently, "The Prison" is fifth in this year's top films between "Fabricated City" ($17.7 million) and the Japanese anime "Your Name" ($25.5 million).

The American psychological drama "The Shack" by Stuart Hazeldine was up next: from 396 screens, the film opened its Korean account by claiming 1.8% of the sales (22,842 admissions), and was followed by "Elena and the Secret of Avalor", down one place, with 16,282 admissions (0.79%). Ahead of the release of Marvel's next "Guardians of the Galaxy" film, the original was re-released to 75 screens; 15,717 admissions (1.37%) went its way, which was good enough for eighth place. Back in 2014, James Gunn's adaptation of Marvel's galactic superhero team grossed $773.3 million worldwide.

"Founder" is an American biopic by John Lee Hancock about Ray Kroc (played by Michael Keaton), the founder of the world's most recognisable fast food chain: McDonalds. Although the film was released in its home country late January, it only just arrived on Korean screens. "Founder" grabbed 14,520 admissions (1.18%) from 279 screens for ninth.

The final spot fell to Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures", which is down four places from sixth. The film is based on the non-fiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly and documents the African American female mathematicians who helped NASA win the Space Race during the middle of the twentieth century. The film has been competing in on Korea's cinema circuit since March 23, and the 12,846 admissions it claimed here moves its total gross in Korea now to $3 million (428,262 admissions).

 

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.04.21 - 2017.04.23 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Fast and Furious 8"   682 576 2 581 335
2 "Daddy You, Daughter Me" (아빠는 딸) 2017/04/12 160 650 541 646
3 "Beauty and the Beast"   104 837 5 022 206
4 "Power Rangers"   50 258 62 014
5 "The Prison" (프리즌) 2017/03/23 29 380 2 920 304
6 "The Shack"   22 950 29 332
7 "Elena and the Secret of Avalor"   16 357 35 255
8 "Guardians of the Galaxy"   15 770 1 329 819
9 "The Founder"   14 666 19 867
10 "The Plan - Documentary" (더 플랜) 2017/04/20 12 903 17 843
Korean movies only  
  "Marianne and Margaret" (마리안느와 마가렛) 2017/04/20 5 088 7 943
  "The King's Case Note" (임금님의 사건수첩) 2017/04/26 3 895 11 008
  "The Mayor" (특별시민) 2017/04/26 2 100 4 374
  "One Day" (어느날) 2017/04/05 2 070 231 786
  "Theatrical Version Tobot : The Attack and of the Robot Army" (극장판 또봇: 로봇군단의 습격) 2017/04/27 1 741 2 328
  "On the Beach at Night Alone" (밤의 해변에서 혼자) 2017/03/23 966 54 211
  "Super Bernard: Spy Adventures" (슈퍼 빼꼼: 스파이 대작전) 2017/05/03 887 1 711
  "House of the Disappeared" (시간 위의 집) 2017/04/05 615 128 123
  "One Line" (원라인) 2017/03/29 390 434 056
  "My Little Baby, Jaya" (지렁이) 2017/04/20 376 1 577

- Chris Wheeler

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