“KPop Demon Hunters: Singalong Event” resonated with Korean audiences, opening in fourth place with $323,000 on 143 screens and 39,000 attendees.
According to KOBIS, a tracking service run by the Korean Film Council, in first place was the South Korean road trip comedy “The First Ride,” which earned $1.56 million from 230,810 viewers, giving it a market share of 28.8% and making its first appearance at the top of the Korean box office. Directed by Nam Dae-Jung (The Great Battle), the film follows a group of childhood friends whose much-anticipated trip to Thailand quickly turns into chaos. The ensemble cast includes Kang Ha-neul, Cha Eun-woo, Kim Young-kwang, Kang Yeon-seok, and Han Seong-hwa. The film has grossed $2.3 million so far, including midweek screenings.
The Japanese animated feature film “Chainsaw Man the Movie: Rezehen” fell to second place with $1.08 million, bringing the total to $20.7 million. This movie is an adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s blockbuster manga “Reze”. Directed by Tatsuya Yoshiwara and written by Hiroshi Seko, the film depicts Denji’s encounter with cafe clerk Reze, which causes him to be conflicted between intimacy and bloody chaos. Voice actors include Rena Ueda, Ai Fairuz, Tomori Kusunoki, and Maaya Uchida. Sony/Crunchyroll is responsible for market distribution.
Japanese psychological horror “The Exit 8” came in third place with $602,000 for a total of $2.2 million. Directed by Genki Kawamura, the film stars Kazunari Ninomiya as a man trapped in an endless subway corridor who must detect minute anomalies in order to escape.
The stop-motion masterpiece “Coraline” continued its reissue at No. 5 with $284,000 (total of $2 million). “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle” followed in sixth place with $216,000, bringing the total box office revenue to $42.1 million. Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” earned $147,000 ($20 million total), and Pyong Yao’s critically acclaimed award-winner “The World of Love” earned another $128,000 ($438,000 total).
“Evangelion: Rebuild of Evangelion: Ha(Shin)² & Reborn” debuted in 9th place with $108,000, and “Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory/Early Death – The Movie” entered the top 10 with $98,600, for a cumulative total of $1.5 million.
The top 10 films grossed $4.5 million, down from $4.7 million in the previous slot.
