KBO: 26 Years Steady at No.1 (12/07-12/09, 2012)

26 Years Steady at No.1

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	26 Years	11/29/12	31.10%	606,877	1,815,877	610
2	My P.S. Partner	12/6/12	25.40%	473,527	565,557	553
3	Rise of the Guardians (us)	11/29/12	13.60%	258,352	677,900	430
4	Werewolf Boy (Director's Cut)	10/31/12	8.10%	164,554	183,029	278
5	Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (us)	11/15/12	5.20%	104,602	2,578,609	305
6	Confession of Murder	11/8/12	5.10%	95,262	2,648,477	281
7	Tone Deaf Clinic	11/29/12	2.00%	42,000	303,714	212
8	Masquerade	9/13/12	1.60%	32,353	12,227,303	97
9	Don't Cry Mommy	11/22/12	1.30%	26,550	956,740	201
10	Judge Dredd (us)	12/6/12	1.40%	26,402	34,731	184

This week's box office look much the same as last week's as business came in at a fraction under the 2 million admissions mark (a 15% increase over last year) while the domestic market share was up 50% year-on-year at a stellar 75%. A wide variety of Korean films and strong holdovers can be attributed to this score as 7 local titles cracked the top 10.

Leading the frame once again was the controversial 26 Years which almost stayed falt as it added 606,877 viewers to its total. The films will reach 2 million within a couple of days and will next look to take down the 3 million mark. Word of mouth is obviously strong on the film but given the sensitive subject matter I wouldn't be surprised if the pic stayed more or less flat for a third weekend as more wary spectators slowly warm to seeing it. However, fierce competition lies ahead in the coming weeks.

Opening at no. 2 was CJ's romcom My. P.S. Partner which had a solid debut with 473,527. I haven't heard much feedback on the film but with Love 911 opening soon it will need to earn its keep quickly before the inevitable decline.

US animation Rise of the Guardians held very well as it took another 258,352 admissions. The film is comfortably making its way to the 1 million mark and may hang around for a spell on account of the holidays.

The director's cut of A Werewolf Boy all but replaced the standard release of the film and raked in 164,554, a 40% fall from last weekend. All accounted for, the film is on track to cross 7 million soon, which will be its final milestone.

The final Twilight slid another 53% for 104,602 to take the 5th slot. Confession of Murder slowed 45% for 95,262 which likely rules out a 3 million finish.

The Hobbit opens next week and will certainly take the top spot, the only question is just how big it will be. Hard to judge the excitement for the project but while I think it will do well, I doubt it will set any records.

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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