Fact-based political thriller “12.12: The Day” dominated the Korean box office for the third successive weekend and advanced its takings haul beyond $50 million. It was far ahead of “Napoleon,” which opened a disappointing third.
The Kim Sung-soo-directed picture earned $11.4 million between Friday and Sunday, accounting for 75.8% of nationwide weekend cinema revenues, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
It has held up particularly strongly and dropped by only 12% in its third weekend. The latest weekend score was again higher than its opening frame. It earned $11.3 million in its opening weekend and expanded to $12.95 million in its second weekend.
Over 19 days of release, “12.12: The Day” (aka “Seoul Spring”) has earned $50.9 million from 6.97 million admissions. On both measures, that is the second highest performance this year by any Korean-produced movie and the third highest score in Korean cinemas in 2023. Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” currently retains second spot with $53.8 million, earned from 7.24 million ticket sales.
The performance of “12.12: The Day” alone has lifted the overall Korean box office out of a four-month slump. Aggregate nationwide box office over the weekend was $15.0 million.
New release title “Our Season” placed second in the weekend chart with $1.05 million earned between Friday and Sunday, and $1.56 million over its five-day opening run. The film is a fantasy drama about a woman temporarily brought back from the dead and who tries to fix her daughter’s unhappy life.
Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” was the second-ranked new release of the weekend. It earned $621,000 between Friday and Sunday and $1.09 million over its five-day opening run.
“Single in Seoul,” a romantic comedy about a novelist and a book editor, took $361,000 in its second weekend. After 12 days on release, it has accumulated $2.37 million.
Kore-eda Hirokazu’s drama film “Monster” earned $310,000 on its second weekend. After 12 days, it has accumulated $1.48 million.
Pre-release, teaser screenings were enough to give Korean animated title “Pororo Popstar Adventure” sixth place in the weekend box office chart. It earned $261,000 ahead of its scheduled Wednesday launch.
“Five Nights at Freddy’s” earned $227,000 over the weekend. Since releasing on Nov. 15, it has amassed $5.11 million in Korean cinemas.
Music documentary “NCT Nation: To the World in Cinemas” earned $164,000 over the weekend and $334,000 over its opening five days.
A re-release of “Dune” earned $104,000 over the weekend and took ninth place. That edged the 2021 film’s cumulative total to $13.8 million in Korea.
Miyazaki Hayao’s “The Boy and the Heron” took tenth place with $46,700. Since releasing on Oct. 25, the film has earned $14.7 million in Korea.
