Hollywood franchise Predator: Badlands opened at the top of the Korean box office with a gross of $1.1 million from 160,000 admissions on 953 screens, capturing 25.4% of the market share. According to KOBIS, a tracking service run by the Korean Film Council, the latest sci-fi action story saw a big drop in mid-week, with its total rising to $1.5 million.
South Korean road trip comedy “The First Ride” dropped to second place with $800,000, bringing the total to $3.6 million. 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.
Japanese anime “Chainsaw Man the Movie: Rezehen” took third place with $825,000, bringing the total to $21.6 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.
Another Japanese import, “The Exit 8,” earned $313,000 with a $2.6 million mark. 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 new film “Bugonia” opened in fifth place with $154,000 on 528 screens.
The stop-motion classic “Coraline,” produced by Tim Burton, continued to be reissued at No. 6 with $129,000 (total of $2.1 million).
“Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Castle” came in 7th place with $125,000 (total $41.5 million).
South Korean animated feature film Tori Tori and the Baby Dinosaur Secret opened in eighth place with $116,000 on 240 screens. Universal’s “Wicked” ranked ninth with $83,000 ($15.3 million total), while Pingyao’s award-winning “The World of Love” rounded out the top 10 with $88,000 ($594,000 total).
The total weekend box office revenue for the top 10 films was $3.8 million, a significant decrease from $4.5 million in the previous slot, and the Korean box office continues to be sluggish.
