[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2018.02.02 - 2018.02.04
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"Psychokinesis" and "Keys to the Heart" score a one-two finished for the home team...
Director Yeon Sang-ho's second live-action feature, the fantastical comedy "Psychokinesis", narrowly outplayed Choi Seong-hyeon's "Keys to the Heart" to top the Korean box office during its first weekend out.
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Before directing his 2017 live-action blockbuster "Train to Busan" (11.5 million admissions), Yeon had four adult 2D animations under his belt: "King of Pigs", "The Window", "The Fake", and "Seoul Station" (the animated prequel to "Train to Busan"). Yeon latest film follows Sin Seok-heon (played by Ryu Seung-ryong) who coincidentally acquires supernatural abilities that allow him to move matter with his mind, which he then uses to save his daughter, Sin Roo-mi (Shim Eun-kyung), from harm. From 1,051 screens, "Psychokinesis" claimed 471,776 admissions (24.19%) and dislodged "Key to the Heart" at the top of the chart.
With this weekend's earnings added (441,020 admissions: 22.63%), Choi Seong-hyeon's comedy-drama "Keys to the Heart" (with Lee Byung-hun, Park Jung-min, and Youn Yuh-jung) has now grossed $20.6 million from 2.7 million admissions, just 200,000 shy of the third highest-grossing film of 2018, "Coco". Pixar's Oscar-nominated 3D animation was produced for between $175 ~ $200 million, and, worldwide, it has currently grossed $700.9 million; in Korea, since it arrived on January 11, "Coco" has now passed 3 million admissions ($22 million). The highest new foreign feature was up next.
The fourth instalment in the popular supernatural horror film series "Insidious", "The Last Key" by director Adam Robitel, opened its Korean account with 212,115 admissions (10.95%) from 769 screens around the country. "Insidious: The Last Key" has been out on American's cinema circuit since early January and has received mixed reviews thus far; filmgoers in America and internationally, however, have helped it gross around ten and a half times its $10 million budget.
Kim Yong-hwa's fantasy drama "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" (starring Ha Jung-woo, Cha Tae-hyun, Ju Ji-hoon and Kim Hyang-gi), the first of two films adapted from Joo Ho-min's webcomic, has been active in the charts for over a month now. The film, now enjoying its seventh weekend out, still had over 500 screens from which to pool and from them added 125,012 admissions (6.46%). Kim's film is now the second high-grossing Korean film of all time with $104.6 million (14.2 million admissions); the current number one is "The Admiral: Roaring Currents" with $124.4 million (17.6 million admissions).
"Maze Runner: The Death Cure" entered in first mid-January in Korea (the first country to screen it), then fell to third last weekend, and now sits in sixth with 105,755 admissions (5.38%). With this week's haul tallied, the third and final "Maze Runner" film's total admission count in Korea stands at 2.2 million, or $16.6 million. "12 Strong", an American war drama by Nicolai Fuglsig (based on the nonfiction book "Horse Soldiers" by Doug Stanton), arrived at 508 screens and claimed 86,015 admissions (4.63%) during its first weekend out. "12 Strong" takes place post-9/11 in Afghanistan and follows a team of special military operatives as they wage war against the Taliban.
Jang Joon-hwan's timely story about student activist Park Jong-cheol, "1987: When the Day Comes" (with Kim Yun-seok, Ha Jung-woo, Yoo Hae-jin, Kim Tae-ri, Park Hee-soon, and Lee Hee-jun), came out just after Christmas in Korea and has been one of the most popular local films of the year so far. From 401 screens, Jang's fourth feature film claimed another 62,496 admissions (3.2%) to move its bottom line to $52.9 million (7.1 million admissions). The final two places went to two new foreign films: the American 3D animation "Maya the Bee: The Honey Games" and Ridley Scott's "All the Money in the World" (with Michelle Williams, Christopher Plummer, and Mark Wahlberg) claimed 46,168 (2.14%) and 26,943 admissions (1.4%) respectively.
Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2018.02.02 - 2018.02.04 (www.kobis.or.kr)
| # | Films | Release date | Week-end | Total |
| 1 | "Psychokinesis" (염력) | 2018/01/31 | 471 776 | 847 018 |
| 2 | "Keys to the Heart" (그것만이 내 세상) | 2018/01/17 | 441 025 | 2 792 118 |
| 3 | "Coco" | 277 427 | 3 047 637 | |
| 4 | "Insidious: The Last Key" | 212 119 | 363 239 | |
| 5 | "Along With the Gods: The Two Worlds" (신과함께-죄와 벌) | 2017/12/20 | 125 012 | 14 196 392 |
| 6 | "Maze Runner: The Death Cure" | 105 755 | 2 206 393 | |
| 7 | "My Sassy Girl" (엽기적인 그녀) | 2001/07/27 | 86 017 | 129 741 |
| 8 | "1987: When the Day Comes" (1987) | 2017/12/27 | 62 496 | 7 175 547 |
| 9 | "Maya the Bee: The Honey Games" (Die Biene Maja - Die Honigspiele) | 46 168 | 55 220 | |
| 10 | "All the Money in the World" | 26 943 | 35 186 | |
| Korean movies only | ||||
| "The Discloser" (1급기밀) | 2018/01/24 | 8 920 | 211 498 | |
| "Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead" (조선명탐정: 흡혈괴마의 비밀) | 2018/02/08 | 5 023 | 30 765 | |
| "SECHSKIES Eighteen" (젝스키스 에이틴) | 2018/01/18 | 1 891 | 37 469 | |
| "The Remnants" (공동정범) | 2018/01/25 | 1 229 | 6 189 | |
| "Myeoneuri - My Son's Crazy Wife" (B급 며느리) | 2018/01/17 | 922 | 8 394 | |
| "Be-Bop-A-Lula" (비밥바룰라) | 2018/01/24 | 894 | 42 932 | |
| "For Vagina's Sake" (피의 연대기) | 2018/01/18 | 761 | 5 763 | |
| "Jamsil" (누에치던 방) | 2018/01/31 | 491 | 1 465 | |
| "Pororo, Dinosaur Island Adventure" (뽀로로 극장판 공룡섬 대모험) | 2017/12/07 | 352 | 825 497 | |
| "Turning Mecard W: The Secret of Bandain, Special Edition" (터닝메카드W: 반다인의 비밀 특별판) | 2018/02/08 | 254 | 254 | |
- Christopher Wheeler