Report
VOICE OF SILENCE Has Quiet Victory
Business Down Despite Waning COVID Fears
It was a slow weekend at the Korean box office but for once the blame couldn’t be laid squarely at the feet of the COVID-19 pandemic. The previous weekend had a boost from Friday’s Hangul Day, but despite stabilizing cases and a recent lowering of the government’s social distancing level, business dropped 25% from the previous week. 405,000 admissions were counted during the most recent Friday to Sunday period. The lone bright spot for the local industry was that a new domestic title added to the Korean market share, pushing it to a commanding 81%.
For the second time this year after the hit #ALIVE, star YOO Ah-in leads the box office charts with a new film. Voice of Silence, the black comedy thriller debut of director HONG Eui-jeong, which also stars YU Jae-myeong, claimed first place with 184,000 sales (USD 1.47 million) over the weekend and 220,000 entries (USD 1.73 million) counted since its Thursday debut. Critics have embraced the film while audience reception has been a bit more mixed, putting a question mark over its continued prospects in the weeks to come.
After two strong weeks buoyed by successive holidays, the Chuseok champ Pawn crashed 56% in its third weekend. Welcoming another 115,000 viewers (USD 897,000), the film has now attracted 1.45 million spectators (USD 10.98 million) to date.
Meanwhile, Christopher NOLAN’s Tenet slowed only 40% and actually climbed two spots in its eighth weekend on the charts, during which it sold 20,000 tickets (USD 179,000). The sci-fi opus has now amassed 1.91 million admissions (USD 15.44 million).
Debuting in a distant fourth place was the Tom HARDY gang pic Capone, which filled 10,000 seats (USD 75,000) over the weekend, with 21,000 entries (USD 153,000) counted in total to date.
Closing out the top five was the Japanese animation Yo-Kai Watch the Movie 5: Forever Friends, with 8,000 viewers (USD 59,000) over the three-day and 9,000 spectators (USD 64,000) welcomed since its launch.
Looking to inject some life back into the flagging box office will be the women-fronted social issue drama Samjin Company English Class, which is currently holding a commanding first place on the reservations charts with 40% of all presales as of Monday morning.
