Report
MULAN Fails to Top 4-Week Old TENET
Holdovers Prop Up Struggling Admissions
Admissions remained flat over the past weekend as viewers were once again wary of returning to multiplexes following last month’s local surge in cases. The first Disney tentpole in several months failed to reignite the market, but things should start to look up as we head into the busy Chuseok holiday season. All told, 333,000 seats were filled over the frame, with just 19% of sales being snatched up by local titles, a figure that should rise significantly during the rest of the month.
Proving resilient in first place despite its throttled grosses, Tenet held on to first place for the fourth weekend. The Christoper NOLAN tentpole was down 26% as it added another 122,000 viewers (USD 1.01 million), giving it 1.54 million admissions (USD 12.15 million) to date.
Despite opening in first place on its opening day on Thursday, Disney’s latest live action update Mulan had a rocky debut in the Korean market, mirroring its disappointing performances in other countries. The film was a close second to a month-long holdover with just 121,000 sales (USD 935,000) recorded over the weekend, with 152,000 entries (USD 1.16 million) counted over four days.
Local comedy Oh! My Gran slipped 41% and one spot to add 29,000 visitors (USD 222,000) over its third weekend. To date, the vehicle for senior star NA Moon-hee has amassed 285,000 sales (USD 1.98 million).
Losing half its audience but remaining in fourth place during its sophomore frame was the dark local animation Beauty Water. The award-winning festival title picked up another 15,000 sales (USD 120,000), boosting its total to a respectable 74,000 admissions (USD 567,000).
Early summer release Innocence remained in the top five after slowing 73% from its return to cinemas last week. The legal thriller filled another 4,000 seats (USD 29,000), raising its total to 894,000 viewers (USD 6.75 million).
This week we’ll start to see the first major local titles vying for the Chuseok holiday crowds that should grow as the month wears on. Mystery-thriller Diva, the comeback project of SHIN Min-a, and The Swordsman, a new period action drama, are scheduled to bow on Wednesday.
