The South Korean theatrical box office sunk to its lowest-earning weekend of the year, despite the release of new films including “Hear Me: Our Summer,” “Red One” and “Anora.”
“Venom: The Last Dance” and “Hear Me: Our Summer” were essentially tied for first place.
“Venom: The Last Dance” held on to the top place in revenue terms with $1.19 million, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. But local charts are ranked according to admissions and showed it in second place, due to its 168,000 ticket sales total.
“Hear Me: Our Summer” took $1.17 million but sold 169,000 tickets. The film is a Korean remake of a 2009 hit Taiwanese romantic comedy. A young man helps out with his sister, a hearing-impaired swimmer, and slowly falls in love with a girl he meets. It earned $1.65 million over its full five-day opening run. It hails from director Jo Seon-ho and Hive Mediaworks production company.
The total nationwide theatrical market was worth just $4.34 million, narrowly the slowest weekend of 2024 and the problematic extension of a post-summer slump.
Far behind in third place was Korean-made “Amazon Bullseye,” a comedy about a Korean archery champion who has to learn some humility when a plane crash lands him in the Brazilian jungle and puts him among tribesmen with better bow and arrow skills. It earned $534,000 over the Friday-Sunday period and has a $3.38 million total after two weekends.
“Red One” was a further step behind in fourth place. It earned $221,000 over the weekend and $325,000 over its full five-day opening run.
Korean drama, “Love in the Big City” took fifth spot, earning $118,000. Since releasing on Oct. 1, it has built a cumulative total of $5.82 million.
Hur Jin-ho’s drama “A Normal Family” took sixth place with its $115,000 haul. It has earned $4.25 million since releasing on Oct. 15.
U.S. animation “The Wild Robot” took $107,000 and seventh place. It too has earned $4.25 million to date.
Cannes Palme d’Or-winner “Anora” opened in eighth place. It earned $96,000 over the weekend and $164,000 over five days. Korean-produced collected $76,000 over the weekend and $127,000 over its opening five days.
“Little Eggs: A Frozen Rescue,” a Mexican animation, opened on Thursday and earned $75,000 over its opening four-day run.