KBO: New World Repeats up Top, Stoker Unconvincing (03/1-03/03, 2013)

New World Repeats up Top, Stoker Unconvincing

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	New World	13/02/21	29.40%	849,376	2,530,048	604
2	Miracle in Cell No.7	13/01/23	25.10%	777,968	11,704,634	577
3	Jack the Giant Slayer (us)	13/02/28	19.40%	545,550	659,854	507
4	The Berlin File	13/01/30	6.40%	189,296	6,997,749	362
5	Stoker (us)	13/02/28	5.80%	165,408	240,639	329
6	12 Chinese Zodiac Heads (cn)	13/02/27	5.20%	162,566	217,242	300
7	Delhi Safair (In)	13/02/21	2.50%	83,606	280,563	263
8	The Giant King (us/th)	13/02/21	1.00%	33,808	149,067	180
9	Sky Force 3D (us, hk)	13/02/28	0.90%	30,991	43,496	183
10	An Ethics Lesson	13/02/21	0.60%	18,065	215,985	147

March got off to a good start with almost three million tickets sold as this past weekend almost doubled the performance of last year's comparable frame. The local market share remained strong at just over 60%, in line with last year's performance.

Clinching a second consecutive chart victory was the gangland thriller New World which brought in another 849,376 admissions as it stayed level with its initial outing. 2.5 million spectators, many of whom are raving about it, have seen the film to date.

Refusing to go anywhere was the enormous hit prison comedy drama Miracle in Cell No. 7 with 777,968, off only 9%. With already 11.7 admissions counted, there is a real chance it could unseat Avatar (13.3 million) to become the all-time most successful film in Korea.

The Hollywood fantasy adventure Jack the Giant Slayer had a powerful debut with 545,550. A far better showing than it's lacklutre US debut.

The Berlin File was down 37% for 189,296. It likely crossed the 7 million mark in the early hours of this morning. That will be the final major milestone for what has been a very strong run for the action spy thriller.

Park Chan-wook's US debut Stoker fared a lot better than his compatriot Kim Jee-woon's The Last Stand but with only 165,408, it wasn't exactly something to write home about. Granted it is a film with only limited appeal that is currently playing on the arthouse circuit in English-language markets. However, the reviews locally have been strong and it may stick around for a little while.

Down at number 10, An Ethics Lesson saw its theater count shredded and consequently dropped almost 83% for a measly 18,065.

Next week, CJ's supernatural procedural The Gifted Hands, starring Kim Gang-woo, should drum up a decent amount of business but may find itself in a stiff competition for first place. Hollywood's Return to Oz will also be opening.

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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