Having received a rapturous reception a week earlier in Cannes George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” grabbed a more muted win at the South Korean box office.
“Furiosa” opened with $3.35 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a 39.5% share of the weekend’s total cinema-going market.
The film opened in Korea on Wednesday and topped the daily chart for each of its five days on release. Its cumulative total at the end of its five-day opening period was a solid, but unremarkable, $4.38 million, earned from 564,000 admissions.
The weekend box office total weighed in at $8.48 million, which is close to the median so far this year.
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Set in a post-apocalyptic world before the events of “Fury Road,” “Furiosa” stars Anya Taylor-Joy, taking over in the title role from Charlize Theron. Early in the film, a young Furiosa is kidnapped and imprisoned by a group of bandits known led by Warlord Dementus, portrayed by Chris Hemsworth.
In claiming the top spot, “Furiosa” deposed “The Roundup: Punishment,” the local crime actioner that had dominated Korean cinemagoing for the past month.
In its fifth weekend of release, “The Roundup: Punishment” slipped to second place and earned $1.58 million. Since releasing on April 28, “Punishment” has earned $77.3 million, making it the second most successful film this year in Korea.
Korean mystery thriller, “Following” placed third. It earned $1.46 million between Friday and Sunday, a strong week-on-week hold, that was down only 14% on its opening session. After 12 days on release, it has earned $5.0 million.
Retaining its fourth place from a week earlier, Japanese animation “Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle” earned $581,000. In 12 days, it has earned $3.81 million.
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” earned $415,000 over the weekend, its third in Korean cinemas. Its cumulative stands at $6.45 million.
“18×2 Beyond Youthful Days,” an ambitious Japan-Taiwan coproduction film with a romance theme, opened in sixth place. It earned $357,000 over the weekend and $539,000 over its opening five days. Directed by Fujii Michihito, the film has enjoyed festival play in Italy’s Udine and has had a coordinated commercial release in other parts of East Asia since March – including mainland China.
“The Garfield Movie” earned $311,000 on its second weekend in Korea. Over 12 days, it has amassed $1.68 million.
Also released in Korea a week earlier, “IF” slipped to eighth position. It earned $102,000 over the weekend for a 12-day cumulative of $653,000.
Japanese re-release, “The Last 10 Years” earned $48,000 in ninth place, while Australian horror “Late Night With the Devil” rounded out the top ten in Korea with $44,200 over the weekend, for a 19 day total of $632,000.
