Holdover title, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Successfully Shifting “Dune” at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend.
“Dune (Korean: 듄 영화)” managed to earn $2.54 million between Friday and Sunday which was equivalent to a 39% share of the total market. Over its five opening days, the sci-fi epic earned a total of $3.47 million.
“Venom 2 (Korean: 베놈 2 다시보기)” had opened a week earlier with a $6.71 million debut that counts as strong in the current malaise. It dropped 56% from first to second weekends, but still claimed a 46% share of the nationwide theatrical market with a $2.98 million weekend.
As “Venom” retreated, so too did the overall Korean box office. It dropped from $8.17 million the previous weekend to $6.51 million over the latest weekend.
With a $14.1 million cumulative, earned in 12 days, “Venom” is now the eighth ranking film of the year in South Korea. It appears poised to overtake “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” $15.1 million, “Cruella” ($16.4 million) and “Soul” among Hollywood titles. Slightly further ahead are Japanese animation “Demon Slayer: The Movie – Mugen Train” with $17.6 million, “Sinkhole” with $18.2 million and “F9” with $18.8 million.
The leading two films over the weekend were in a class of their own. James Bond franchise film, “No Time to Die” was in third place, but with a weekend score of just $196,000. Since its Sept.29 release it has accumulated $9.96 million.
The Last Duel was the weekend’s only other high-profile release. But it managed only fourth place with a score of $180,000 for the weekend and a market share of less than 3%. Over five days it earned $275,000.
Korean fantasy film “On The Line” managed $145,000 over the weekend, for a $11.6 million total since Sept. 15.
In addition to the Venom 2 and Dune films, there are several other films or original Korean films that dominate the ranks at the top of the South Korean Box Office, including:
No Time To Die
The film No Time To Die (Korean: 007 노 타임 투 다이) tells the story of James Bond (Daniel Craig) who is now living a normal human life after deciding to retire from MI6. He is no longer a mainstay or holds the status of an espionage agent with the code 007.
This week, No Time To Die sold 564,255 tickets on 2,201 screens and raised $4.5 million.
Hostage: Missing Celebrity
Hostage: Missing Celebrity (Korean: 인질 온라인)is a 2021 South Korean reality action thriller film, written and directed by Pil Kam-sung for Next Entertainment World. It is a feature debut of director and is based on 2015 Chinese film Saving Mr. Wu. Starring Hwang Jung-min, the film is about kidnapping of Korean top film star Hwang Jung-min by strangers. First he thinks it is a prank, then he soon realises that it is no joke, as the kidnappers demand from him a huge amount of ransom within 24 hours.
Black Widow
Black Widow (Korean:블랙 위도우 스트리밍) is a 2021 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 24th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Cate Shortland from a screenplay by Eric Pearson, and stars Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow alongside Florence Pugh, David Harbour, O-T Fagbenle, Olga Kurylenko, William Hurt, Ray Winstone, and Rachel Weisz. Set after the events of Captain America: Civil War (2016), the film sees Romanoff on the run and forced to confront her past.
Escape from Mogadishu
Escape from Mogadishu (Korean: 모가디슈 영화 다시보기; RR: Mogadisyu) is a 2021 South Korean action drama film, directed by Ryoo Seung-wan and starring Kim Yoon-seok, Jo In-sung, Heo Joon-ho and Kim So-jin. The film based on real events, is set during the Somali Civil War and the two Koreas’ efforts to be admitted to the United Nations in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It depicts details of perilous escape attempt made by North and South Korean embassy workers stranded during the conflict.
Sinkhole
Sinkhole (Korean: 싱크홀 영화 온라인; RR: Singkeuhol) is a 2021 South Korean disaster comedy film, directed by Kim Ji-hoon and starring Cha Seung-won, Kim Sung-kyun, Lee Kwang-soo and Kim Hye-jun. It is about an average man’s house, that took 11 years to obtain, but going down a sinkhole 500 meters underground in a minute.