KBO: Man on the Edge Maintains its Edge (01/18-01/20, 2012)

Man on the Edge Maintains its Edge

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Man on the Edge	13/01/09	31.40%	876,555	2,501,068	603
2	Jack Reacher (us)	13/01/17	14.00%	389,003	465,281	431
3	Hotel Transylvania (us)	13/01/17	11.50%	335,707	393,587	489
4	The Impossible (sp/us)	13/01/17	9.70%	277,529	339,730	408
5	Les Miserables (uk/us)	12/19/12	9.70%	271,876	5,317,090	373
6	The Tower	12/25/12	9.10%	259,016	4,941,668	406
7	Life of Pie (us)	13/01/09	8.50%	169,036	1,316,624	279
8	The Reef 2: High Tide (us/kr)	13/01/10	1.70%	51,573	248,266	235
9	Cloud Atlas (us)	13/01/09	1.80%	48,035	426,480	235
10	Love 911	12/19/12	0.60%	16,333	2,469,056	97

January continues to perform above usual as 2.8 million admissions were recorded over this past weekend. It was significantly up from last year's 2.2, despite the fact that that was the Lunar New Year's holiday frame. The market share was down a little to 42% but then again only three local releases charted.

Man on the Edge built on its stellar debut with a slight increase for 876,555. The popular gangster comedy is already over the 2.5 million mark and will soon be knocking on the doors of the 3, 4 and quite possibly the 5 million milestones.

Tom Cruise vehicle Jack Reacher had a solid opening with 389,003, no doubt aided by the star's recent appearance in the country to promote his new film. What is less certain are the film's prospects going forward.

Animation Hotel Transylvania opened well with 335,707 but will likely take a fall next week as it goes up against some stiff local competition.

Tsunami drama The Impossible also opened well with 277,529 but will probably recede quickly in the coming weeks. Blockbuster musical Les Miserables had another small drop as it took in 271,876, adding to its ever-growing total which is well over 5 million milestone and may still make it to 6.

Meanwhile disaster pic The Tower finally took a hit as it saw half its audience eaten by the busy new frame. Nevertheless it still added 259,016 to its impressive total which is quickly approaching the 5 million mark.

Next week will see the release of the touching family comedy Miracle in Cell No.7, which stands a strong chance of beating out its competition. The hugely popular cartoon character Pororo is also getting his big screen adaptation but I'm not convinced his popularity will translate into a giant success.

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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