KBO: Masquerade Streak Continues After Tight Finish (10/19-10/21, 2012)

Masquerade Streak Continues After Tight Finish

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Masquerade	9/13/12	32.50%	545,866	10,255,655	619
2	Perfect Number	10/18/12	32.50%	534,306	632,824	553
3	A Company Man	10/11/12	11.20%	176,295	963,201	399
4	Looper (us)	10/11/12	6.70%	104,853	453,391	302
5	Brave (us)	9/27/12	3.20%	57,888	1,139,057	248
6	Ghost Sweepers	10/3/12	2.50%	43,776	935,762	218
7	The Assassins (ch)	10/18/12	2.30%	39,101	49,038	227
8	Dangerous Liaisons	10/11/12	2.40%	38,750	255,172	248
9	Lawless (us)	10/18/12	1.90%	30,803	46,713	275
10	Infinite Concert 3D	10/18/12	2.10%	25,313	31,395	84

It was a very close finish for the top spot this weekend but perhaps the race for number one was a bit moot as both the top titles hailed from CJ entertainment. 1.68 million tickets were sold over the frame, while is a slight increase over last year, and the market share was a tremendous 81% for local releases.

Masquerade has now taken the top spot at the box office for the 6th consecutive week and I honestly don't remember the last time that that's happened. Following a slight 20% dip, its 545,866 weekend total was more than enough to edge it over the 10 million, becoming the 2nd film of the year to do so (a record) and also only the 7th Korean film ever to pass that threshold. 11 million will be crossed soon and perhaps it may even have some more milestones in store yet. It has a shot at the record, set earlier this year by The Thieves, but it's a long one for the moment.

Romantic thriller Perfect Number had a decent start with 534,306 and while word on the pic is good, I will be curious to see if that translates to strong holds and some longevity for the film's financial prospects. Next week's take will give us a much better indication.

After a slightly limp beginning, the hitman drama A Company Man slid over 60% for 176,295. It will cross the one million mark within days but that is not a total that distributor Showbox is likely to be too pleased with.

Looper was cut in half during its sophomore outing for 104,853 but that's not too bad for a science fiction film in this market. At number 5 Brave took in 57,888 after crossing the one million mark last week.

Next week Masquerade will finally have to cede its crown as James Bond's much-hyped 23rd entry Skyfall marches into theaters.

Source: kobis.or.kr


The Korean Box Office Update is a weekly feature which provides detailed analysis of film box office sales over the Friday to Sunday period in Korea. It appears every Sunday night (Korean Standard Time) on Modern Korean Cinema. For other weekly features, take a look at Korean Cinema News and the Weekly Korean Reviews. Reviews and features on Korean film also appear regularly on the site. 

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