Lionsgate’s heist sequel “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” has pulled off a winning trick in South Korea, opening at No. 1 and giving the country’s struggling theatrical market a rare late-year jolt. Industry data show the film generated about $2.8 million from 435,288 admissions between Nov. 12 and 16, topping local and imported rivals to claim nearly half of all box office revenue during the frame.
Figures from KOBIS, the Korean Film Council’s tracking service, indicate that the film played on 1,352 screens for a 49.31 percent revenue share and roughly $3.8 million including previews, reflecting an aggressive rollout across multiplex chains. Daily charts for Nov. 12 already had the title in first place, ahead of Japanese anime feature “Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc,” which reinforced its reach from the start of release.
The Korean launch forms part of a wider international push. The third entry in the magician-thief franchise has opened to an estimated $21.3 million in North America and about $75.5 million worldwide, with China, South Korea, France and the U.K. among the strongest territories for its first weekend in release. Korean receipts around the $3.8–$3.9 million mark place the country alongside leading offshore contributors, even if the film’s global haul still sits below its reported $90 million production budget.
The performance arrives against a backdrop of concern about cinema attendance in Korea. According to mid-year figures from the Korean Film Council, only 40.73 million tickets were sold through June 22, putting the country on course for its weakest annual turnout since 2004 outside the pandemic years. The year’s top local title at that stage, crime drama “Yadang: The Snitch,” had drawn about 3.37 million viewers, a level that would once have ranked far lower among yearly leaders, while factors such as economic uncertainty and streaming competition continue to sap demand.
For exhibitors, a Hollywood franchise drawing well over 400,000 admissions in five days offers welcome relief and confirms that large-scale releases can still lure audiences away from home viewing. For Korean producers, the weekend stands as another reminder that imported spectacle remains a powerful force at the box office at a time when local titles are still searching for breakout momentum.
