Korea Box Office: ‘The Marvels’ Wins on Quiet Weekend

The Marvels topped the South Korean box office on its opening weekend, but failed to lift cinema activity out of its recent slump.

The Marvels opened with $2.35 million between Friday and Sunday, and a market share of nearly 42%, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). Over its five-day opening run the film pulled in a total of $3.4 million.

Those scores were enough to take top place from The Boy and the Heron, which had been number one for the two previous weekends, but not enough to increase cinemagoing in Korea. Nationwide aggregate box office totaled only $5.63 million over the weekend, down for a second weekend and far below the summer highs when $10 million was the baseline figure.

In March 2019, the franchise films predecessor Captain Marvel earned $15.6 million on its opening weekend ($20.6 million over five days) and went on to an aggregate of $39.0 million. The Marvels was a flop in other international markets too.

The Boy and the Heron took second place in its third weekend on release in Korea, earning $1.15 million. After nearly three weeks on release, it has accumulated $12.8 million.

Korean crime drama, The Boys took $539,000 in its second weekend. Its 12-day cumulative is $2.81 million. Love Reset earned $390,000 and has now accumulated $$15.5 million since releasing at the beginning of October.

Australian-made horror Talk to Me passed $1 million aggregate, with $233,000 on its second weekend in Korea.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour placed seventh by revenues (and ninth by ticket sales numbers) with $110,000. After two weekends, it has a cumulative of $428,000.

Another concert film, My SHINee World placed eighth by revenues (and tenth by ticket sales) with $89,000. After two weekends, it has a cumulative of $324,000.

Japanese animation, Blue Giant ranked ninth by earnings with $56,000 over the weekend. Its four-week cumulative is now $742,000. U.S. animation, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie rounded out the top ten, managing $40,000 in its sixth weekend of release. That gave it a cumulative total of $1.15 million.