South Korea’s movie market hit a low point this weekend, with only $4.34 million made at the box office nationwide. This means the entertainment business will continue facing problems after a slow summer.
It was a close race at the box office this weekend, with “Venom: The Last Dance” barely hanging on to the top spot with $1.19 million. On the other hand, the newly released Korean romantic film “Hear Me: Our Summer” sold more tickets than Venom (169,000 to 168,000).
The funny and touching “Hear Me: Our Summer” is good. The story is based on a 2009 Taiwanese movie about a young man who falls in love while helping his hearing-impaired professional swimmer sister. The movie made a huge $1.65 million in its first five days in theaters. It was directed by Jo Seon-ho and produced by Hive Mediaworks.
Comedies set in the United States continued to do pretty well. With $534,000 over the weekend, “Amazon Bullseye” took third place and earned $3.38 million in two weeks. The movie is about a Korean archery winner who has an unexpected adventure after his plane crashes in the Brazilian jungle.
The much-anticipated action movie “Red One” didn’t meet expectations. It opened in fourth place with only $221,000 over the weekend and $325,000 in its first five days. “Love in the Big City,” on the other hand, maintained its steady performance, adding $118,000 to its total of $5.82 million since its October 1 release.
Films that didn’t make the top 10 had mixed success. Each of Hur Jin-ho’s “A Normal Family” and the U.S. cartoon “The Wild Robot” made about $115,000, together making $4.25 million. The Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Anora” had a slow start, making only $96,000 in its first weekend and $164,000 in its first five days.
These figures show that the Korean theater market still has many problems. The industry is monitoring the sector closely to see if it can get back on track and attract more viewers during the slower fall and winter months.
