Korea Box Office: ‘Hansan’ withholds ‘state of emergency’

“Emergency Declaration,” a contemporary Korean action thriller, flew to a $6.5 million opening weekend. But it was old-fashioned naval actioner Hansan: Rising Dragon that stayed afloat for a second week at the top of the South Korean box office.

“Hansan,” a sequel to a 2014 record-breaker, earned $9.18 million from over 1,600 screens, according to data from Kobis, the Korean Film Council’s (Kofic) tracking service. That was a 32% drop week-over-week. The market share fell from 60% to 45%. Still, after 12 days in Korean theaters, “Hansan” has grossed US$36.0 million and is now the fourth highest-grossing film of the year to date.

“Emergency Declaration,” which had a special screening in Cannes last year and had been postponed several times, was finally allowed to fly on Wednesday. It started strong for distributor Showbox, topping the daily charts on Wednesday and Thursday. But the film hit turbulence over the weekend when it took second place with $6.50 million from 1,718 screens and a 32% market share. It quickly raised $10.8 million in five days.

Imax reported that the film grossed US$488,000 on Imax screens in Korea, the fifth highest-grossing opening for a Korean film at the Imax circuit.

The effect of two top-performing local films was to keep the cinemas busy. Total nationwide revenue in Korea was US$20.4 million, up from a total of US$22.0 million the previous weekend.

“Top Gun Maverick” earned $1.58 million in third place, bringing its total since launch on June 22, 2022 to $60.0 million.

Minions: The Rise of Gru earned $1.34 million in fourth place, extending its three-week total to $14.7 million.

Korean-produced animation Pororo Movie – Dragon Castle Adventure added $523,000 over the second weekend, bringing the 11-day total to $2.63 million.

Art-house detective thriller Decision to Leave added $393,000, expanding its fall to $14.1 million after six weekends of release.

Korean sci-fi action film Alienoid grossed $352,000 in its third weekend. His cumulative total now stands at $12.0 million.

The newly released Japanese animation Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Little Star Wars 2021 raked in $156,000 over the weekend and $265,000 in the first five days in eighth place. Ninth place belonged to “Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween” at $89,000 over the weekend and $3.53 since its July 13 release.

The Hunt, the 1980s spy thriller directed by Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae, officially opens on Wednesday (August 10, 2022). But its 12-screen previews were good enough for $48,000 and 10th place finish over the weekend.