Stream K-Dramas at OnDemandKorea

[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.08.18 - 2017.08.20

"A Taxi Driver" on cruise control after Liberation Day...

Jang Hoon's "A Taxi Driver" (Song Kang-ho) -- his fourth film after "The Front Line" (2011), "Secret Reunion" (2010) and "Rough Cut" (2008) -- secured a third straight weekend at the top of the pile this past weekend by adding another 949,447 admissions (26.77%), moving its total tally now over the 10 million admissions mark. Since its release early August, "A Taxi Driver" has grossed $71.6 million, and while it is currently the most successful film of the year, it is also now the fifteenth highest-grossing film of all time in Korea behind "The Avengers: Age of Ultron" (10.49 million) and "The King and the Clown" (10.5 million).

Advertisement

Another local film retained second place: Kim Joo-hwan's action comedy "Midnight Runners" (starring Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul) claimed 848,111 admissions from 918 screens (down from 1,058) as it closes in on 4 million admissions; "Midnight Runners" has earned $27 million since August 9 and moves to seventh in the list of the highest grossing films of the year. The third instalment in the popular "Planet of the Apes" series of films arrived last Tuesday and from 896 screens director, Matt Reeves' latest captured 19.85% of the sales (682,993 admissions). Worldwide, and from a production budget of $150 million, "War for the Planet of the Apes" has grossed over $324.3 million.

The highest new local entry was "The Mimic" by director/screenwriter Huh Jung ("Hide and Seek"). "The Mimic" stars Yum Jung-ah and Park Hyuk-kwon and tells the story about a mysterious shape-shifting creature, the "Jangsan Tiger". Jung's sophomore feature entered the fray in fourth with 509,967 admissions (14.22%) from 711 screens, more than double its closest challenger, "Annabelle: Creation". David F. Sandberg's supernatural horror entered in third last week but fell two places here. From 549 screens, down from 1,006, "Annabelle: Creation" added 251,516 admissions (7.14%), which moves its bottom line in Korea to $13.3 million.

Illumination Entertainment for Universal Pictures' 3D animation "Despicable Me 3" is enjoying its fourth week out in Korea. With the 82,662 admissions the film scored over the weekend, "Despicable Me 3"'s has grossed just under $21 million in Korea alone; worldwide, it's approaching the billion-dollar mark. "Criminal Conspiracy" is a local documentary by Choi Seungho about the changing face of public broadcasting in Korea and the troubles it will face given its current coordinates. From just 208 screens, Choi's fourth film attracted 48,122 admissions (1.36%), narrowly out playing the Belgium-France animation, "The Son of Bigfoot".

Last weekend, "The Son of Bigfoot" entered the charts in sixth with 87,653 (1.77%) from 437 screens. Week two, however, was less successful: from 258 screens, "The Son of Bigfoot" added 47,532 admissions (1.18%) which moved its total tally in Korea now to 256,418 admissions, or $1.59 million. The latest "Doraemon" film, "Nobita's Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Koch" by Atsushi Takahashi, fell two places with 23,340 admissions (0.58%), and the final place went to a new international co-production from Germany and the Ukraine: "The Dragon Spell" banked $145,922 (21,780 admissions) during its first weekend out in Korea from 149 screens.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.08.18 - 2017.08.20 (www.kobis.or.kr)

# Films Release date Week-end Total
1 "A Taxi Driver" (택시 운전사) 2017/08/02 949 908 10 353 208
2 "Midnight Runners" (청년경찰) 2017/08/09 848 786 3 906 564
3 "War for the Planet of the Apes"   683 454 1 540 938
4 "The Mimic" (장산범) 2017/08/17 511 111 642 937
5 "Annabelle: Creation"   252 034 1 753 667
6 "Despicable Me 3"   82 663 3 251 881
7 "Criminal Conspiracy" (공범자들) 2017/08/17 48 339 65 910
8 "The Son of Bigfoot"   47 532 256 418
9 "Doraemon the Movie: Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi" (映画ドラえもん のび太の南極カチコチ大冒険)   23 343 153 615
10 "The Dragon Spell" (Mykyta kozhumyaka)   21 780 58 531
Korean movies only  
  "The Table" (더 테이블) 2017/08/24 890 890
  "Suicide Made" (김광석) 2017/08/30 781 4 461
  "Anarchist from Colony" (박열) 2017/06/28 460 2 358 778
  "Troublers" (불온한 당신) 2017/07/20 250 4 057
  "BIGBANG: MADE TOUR" (빅뱅 메이드) 2016/06/30 180 56 200
  "Marianne and Margaret" (마리안느와 마가렛) 2017/04/20 150 28 253
  "Suh-Suh Pyoung, Slowly and Peacefully" (서서평, 천천히 평온하게) 2017/04/26 130 122 117
  "Cool And Cold" (무정, 1962) - Re-release   117 355
  "Ash Flower" (재꽃) 2017/07/06 103 5 254
  "Write or Dance" (여자들) 2017/08/03 97 2 917

- Christopher Wheeler

❎ Try Ad-free