Without significant new challengers, spooky Korean drama “Exhuma” held on at the top of the South Korea box office chart for the seventh consecutive weekend. Its cumulative passed the symbolic $80 million mark.
The lack of strong new release titles also meant that aggregate weekend box office in Korea slipped to a lowly $5.59 million.
The Choi Min-sik-starring “Exhuma” dropped roughly 50% week-on-week to record $1.59 million between Friday and Sunday, and a 28% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That gives it a cumulative total of $80.8 million, earned from 11.3 million spectators.
“Troll Factory,” a crime drama about a journalist’s investigation of an online scam, has received mixed reviews, but held on the second position in its second weekend of release. It earned $1 million between Friday and Sunday and has a two-week cumulative of $5.57 million.
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which has failed to stir Korean audiences, remained in third place for the second time. Over the weekend, it earned $621,000 for a 12-day total of $3.34 million.
U.S. horror film, “The First Omen” was the highest-ranked new release. It opened in fourth place with $462,000 over the weekend and $642,000 over its full five-day opening run.
Japanese romance film “The Last 10 Years,” which first played in Korea in May 2023, enjoyed a re-release less than a year later. It earned $398,000 over the weekend, giving it a lifetime cumulative of $1.59 million.
“Dune: Part Two” took sixth place by virtue of its high average ticket prices. It earned $318,000 in its sixth weekend of release for a cumulative of $16.7 million. Although it has gone up against the powerful “Exhuma” throughout its career, “Dune 2” has become the second highest-grossing film this year in Korea.
Although it sold more tickets than “Dune 2” over the weekend, Jason Statham-starring action film “The Beekeeper” opened only in seventh place in revenue terms. It earned $284,000 between Friday and Sunday and $497,000 over its full five opening days.
“Yumi’s Cells: The Movie” a Korean-made animation adapted from a well-known webtoon that has previously been adapted as a hybrid live action and animated TV series, opened in eighth place. It earned $176,000 over the weekend and $279,000 over its initial five days in cinemas.
Japanese animation, “Spy x Family Code: White” earned $132,000 from its third weekend in Korean cinemas. Since releasing on March 20, it has accumulated $1.92 million in the country.
Korean horror film “The Sin” opened in tenth place. It earned $107,000 over the weekend and $171,000 over five days.