The South Korean box office had a familiar look. Dark drama, “Exhuma” dominated the chart with a more than 50% market share for the fourth weekend in a row. And, for the third successive weekend, “Dune 2” placed second.
“Exhuma,” about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to reverse the mysterious events happening to a U.S.-based Korean family, earned $5.80 million between Friday and Sunday. That represented a 67% share of the overall box office market, according to data from tracking service Kobis, operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
That lifted the film’s haul to $67.3 million after nearly four weeks on release. The figure is the highest this year by far and the fourth highest performance since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
To date, “Exhuma” has sold 9.30 million tickets. And it looks certain to pass the ten million admissions mark that is the accepted benchmark for a blockbuster in Korea.
“Dune 2” earned $1.73 million over the weekend, representing a 19% share of the total market. Its cumulative total over nearly three weeks on release now stands at $13.6 million. That is the third highest score this year in Korea by box office revenue and the fourth highest by admissions. (“Citizen of a Kind” claims third rank as measured by ticket sales.)
Chart places three, four and five were unchanged weekend-on-weekend. “Wonka” remained in third place with $335,000, for a running total of $25 million. “Poor Things” was in fourth place with $174,000, for a two-weekend total of $822,000.
Korean animation, “Bread Barbershop: Celeb in Bakery Town” held fifth place with $128,000 for a three-week total of $1.09 million.
Liam Hemsworth-, Luke Hemsworth- and Russell Crowe-starring action thriller, “Land of Bad” was the highest-placed new release in Korea. It opened in sixth place with $105,000 between Friday and Sunday and $165,000 over five days.
Korean-American drama film “Past Lives” trailed along in seventh place. It earned $117,000 for a two-weekend total of $612,000. As with “Poor Things,” the film’s appearance at the Oscars seemed to have little immediate box office impact in Korea.
“Bob Marley: One Love,” a hit in many international markets, opened in Korea a muted eighth. It earned $87,000 over the weekend proper and $187,000 over five days.
“The Birth of Korea” added $58,400 for a total of $8.09 million since Feb. 1. And claimed ninth place. Canadian animation film “Katak: The Brave Beluga” opened in tenth with $59,000 over five days.
