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[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2018.01.26 - 2018.01.28

"Keys to the Heart" leads and "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" becomes the second-highest grossing Korean film of all time...

Choi Seong-hyeon's comedy-drama "Keys to the Heart" claimed just 20,000 admissions more than its second-place finish last weekend, but it was enough to secure first place. With 668,658 admissions (29.14%), Choi's debut about a down-and-out boxer (Lee Byung-hun) and his relationship with his estranged savant brother (Park Jung-min) outperformed the final "Maze Runner" and the Oscar-nominated "Coco" during its second week out. "Keys to the Heart" has now grossed $15.1 million from 1.9 million admissions, the fifth highest-grossing film of 2018 so far.

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Pixar's "Coco" - along with "Loving Vincent", "Ferdinand", "The Breadwinner" and "The Boss baby" - will be competing for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in March. This 3D computer-animated feature was produced for between $175 and $200 million and has so far earned $679.3 million at the box office worldwide; in Korea, since its release mid-January, "Coco" has grossed $19 million, $3.6 million of which came from this past weekend from 482,775 admissions (20.19%).

Last weekend's number one, the third and final chapter in the popular young dystopian "Maze Runner" series, "Maze Runner: The Death Cure", fell two places to third with 359,431 admissions (15.85%) from 771 screens (down from 1,090). Korea was the first country to screen director Wes Ball's final film in the series, as it was only just released in America this past Friday. "The Death Cure" was followed by Korea's second highest-grossing film of all time: Kim Yong-hwa's "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" starring Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Hyang-gi.

With the 185,915 admissions (9.96%) Kim's feature claimed over its sixth weekend out, "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds"'s total tally now moves onto 13.9 million ($105 million). Although "Ode to My Father" acquired more admissions (14.2 million: $104 million), due to a difference in ticket pricing, Kim's new film is now technical only behind "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" (17.6 million admissions: $127.2 million) in the list of Korea's highest-grossing films. Up next in fifth, and down one place, was Jang Joon-hwan's timely drama about student activist Park Jong-cheol, "1987: When the Day Comes" starring Kim Yun-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Yoo Hae-jin and Kim Tae-ri. Jang's 129-minute drama fell one place and added 185,915 admissions to its cause, bringing its bottom line now to $53 million (7 million admissions).

The highest new entry, "The Commuter" (Liam Neeson), an action thriller by director Jaume Collet-Serra, entered in sixth to 574 screens and from them managed 6.5% of the sales (149,653 admissions). Hong Ki-seon's sophomore film "The Discloser" (aka "Top Secret") also entered the fray on Wednesday and attracted 108,435 admissions (4.67%). (Hong's debut film was also a crime thriller; "The Case of Itaewon Homicide" was released back in 2009 and claimed 534,939 admissions.)

"Miraculous 2: The Secret of Miracle Stone" entered in eighth with 20,832 admissions (0.81%) from 305 screens, followed by "The Greatest Showman", down two places with 19,142 admissions (0.86%). Michael Gracey's musical drama, which is also his debut, arrived in Korea five days before Christmas and has so far grossed $10.1 million from 1.3 million admissions. The final place when to "Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Lee Seong-jae-I with 17,455 admissions (0.64%).

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2018.01.26 - 2018.01.28 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "Keys to the Heart" (그것만이 내 세상) 2018/01/17 672 719 1 978 827
2 "Coco"   483 430 2 556 361
3 "Maze Runner: The Death Cure"   361 221 1 953 776
4 "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" (신과함께-죄와 벌) 2017/12/20 230 203 13 948 441
5 "1987: When the Day Comes" (1987) 2017/12/27 186 809 7 026 191
6 "The Commuter"   150 566 223 186
7 "The Discloser" (1급기밀) 2018/01/24 109 185 164 394
8 "Miraculous 2: The Secret of Miracle Stone" (극장판 레이디버그2: 미라클스톤의 비밀) 2018/01/25 20 832 26 133
9 "The Greatest Showman"   19 249 1 319 758
10 "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (비밥바룰라) 2018/01/24 17 486 34 421
Korean movies only  
  "SECHSKIES Eighteen" (젝스키스 에이틴) 2018/01/18 4 173 31 424
  "The Remnants" (공동정범) 2018/01/25 1 304 3 468
  "Myeoneuri - My Son's Crazy Wife" (B급 며느리) 2018/01/17 1 214 6 297
  "For Vagina's Sake" (피의 연대기) 2018/01/18 909 4 064
  "Pororo, Dinosaur Island Adventure" (뽀로로 극장판 공룡섬 대모험) 2017/12/07 606 824 588
  "Old Marine Boy" (올드마린보이 ) 2017/11/02 453 9 159
  "A Living Being" (천화) 2018/01/25 313 1 232
  "A Special Lady" (미옥) 2017/11/09 300 240 113
  "Nine Days" (2018, VR Short, 나인데이즈)   247 296
  "I'll Just Live in Bando" (반도에 살어리랏다 ) 2018/01/25 235 1 375

- Christopher Wheeler

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