Archive for the 'Box Office' Category

I have image capability again!  Thanks go out to Darcy, the owner of Koreanfilm.org, who time from his busy schedule to solve the problem. 

Depsite some bad press, Suspicious Customers, a new film starring Ryu Seung-beom, squeaked by and landed on top of the box office just barely beating out the film previously known as Dangerous Meeting and now called Meet the Inlaws. The film I Love You which held onto fourth place for five or six weeks has finally reliquished that spot and slipped to seventh. It will likely diappear all toghether the coming weekend with a slew of new films opening.  You can see these listed below.

1.  Baboya (kr)– d. Kang Seong-ok, starring Kim Soo-hwan (documentary)

2. Fast Five (us)– d. Justin Lee, starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker www.fastfuriousfive.kr

3. Ip Man 3 (hk)– d. Herman Yau, starring Yu-Hang To, Sammo Hung KanBo

4. Jane Eyre (uk)– d. Cary Fukunaga, starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender www.janeeyre.kr

5. L’amour Fou (fr)– d. Pierre Thoretton, starring Yves Saint-Laurent, Pierre Berge

6. Machete (us)– d. Robert Rodriquez, starring Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba  www.machete.co.kr

7. Mongjeongae (kr)– d. Lee Soong-hwan, starring Jeong Seong-hoon, Yoo Ok-joo

8. Norwegian Wood (jp)  d. Ahn Hung Tran, starring Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi

9. Rite (us)– d. Mikael Hafstrom, starring Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue

10. Sesangeseo Gajang Areumdawon Ibyeol (kr)– d. Min Gyu-dong, starring Kim Gab-soo, Bae Jeong-ok www.thankyou-family.co.kr

This week I finally finished listing all the Korean films produced in the 1960s which completes the entire list!  I was excited about that but the feeling was somewhat dulled by the fact that I still can’t post images which means I can’t be continuing the index for a while. This week, I only watched one movie I had not previously seen, Three Housemaid Sisters (1969) and did not go to the theater. With exams starting next week, I probably won’t get downtown again to watch movies. Anyway, here are the box office results for this week.

1. Dangerous Meeting (kr)  2. Sucker Punch (us)  3. My Name is Kahn (in)  4. I Love You (kr)  5. Last Night (us)  6. Julia’s Eyes  7. King’s Speech  8. Paul (es)  9. Little Black Dress (kr)  10. World Invasion (us)

Dangerous Meeting remained at the top of the charts taking 45.3%– five times more than the second ranked film (albiet on twice the number of screens).  To date, Dangerous Meeting has had 1,374,249 people see it. The third ranked film, My Name is Kahn moved up the ranks for a second week in a row, this time from 7th and I Love You seems as if it will never leave fourth place.

Below is a list of films opening this week. I admit to being somewhat curious about the new Ryu Seung-beom movie considering the waves Ryu made at the press conference. He apparently was not very happy with either his acting or the movie in general. When one reporter after the screening asked him what the point of the story was, Ryu quipped, “I don’t know. If anyone can find one, please let me know.”  I second thought, maybe I won’t be seeing it…  I have seen the movie listed on Daum as Strange Customers and on Youtube as Suicide Watch– but KOFIC has yet to post an official English title, so I will list it under its romanized  Korean title for now.

1.  Antichrist (dk)– d. Lars Von Trier, starring WillemDefoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg

2. Closed Note (jp)– d. Isao Yukisada, starring Erika Sawajiri, Yuko Takeuchi www.closednote.co.kr

3. Countdown: Armagedden (us)– d. A.F. Silver, starring Kim Little, Jose Prendes

4. Gnomeo & Juliet (uk)– d. Kelly Asbury, voiced by James McAvoy, Emily Blunt www.gnomeo3d.co.kr

5. Hanna (us)– d. Joe Wright, starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett www.hanna2011.co.kr

6. Jackass 3D (us)– d. Jeff Tremaine, starring Johnny Knoxville, Steve O

7. Journals of Musan (kr)– d. Park Jeong-beom, Jin Yong-wook

8. Naneun Abbada (kr)– d. Lee Se-yeong, Jeon Man-bae, starring Kim Seung-woo, Son Byeong-ho http://my-daddy.co.kr

9. Soosanghan Gogaekdeul (kr)– d. Jo Jin-mo, starring Ryu Seung-beom, Seong Dong-il www.customers2011.co.kr

10. Soosanghan Iutdeul (kr)– d. Yang Yeong-cheol, starring Park Won-sang, JeonMi-seon

11. Urutora Mirakuru Rabu Sutori (jp)– d. Satoko Yokohama, starring Kenichi Matsuyama, Kumiko Aso

Let’s see..  This past week I watched several Korean movies including A Shark (2007),  Chasing the Ghost Sound (2010) and Empty Dream (1965).  I have been wanting to write something about them, but I like to put in images of their posters at least… Blogging without photos is like writing a report. Hopefully the image function will be working soon.  In the meantime, here is how the box office looked after this past weekend:

1. Dangerous Meeting (kr)   2. King’s Speech (uk)  3. Julia’s Eyes (es)  4. I Love You (kr) 5. World Invasion (us)  6. Little Black Dress (kr)  7. My Name is Kahn (in)  8. Little Fockers (us)  9. Vanishing on 7th Street (us)  10. Black Swan (us)

The Korean film Dangerous Meeting landed in first on its opening weekend taking 44.2% off the total box office sales on 596 screens. The film has had 688,547 people see it in theaters Last week’s number one movie, The King’s Speech, slipped to number two but earned just 9.0% of sales on 341 screens. 694,195 people in Korea have seen it since it opened on March 17th.  Number three was Julia’s Eyes which I was happy to see. It is rare that a Spanish film does so well in Korea. Finally, I Love You tenaciously held onto it’s number 4 rank once again.  That makes it 5 weeks in a row now.

The 10 news movies opening in  Korean theaters this coming week are listed alphabetically below:

1. AVH (us)– d. Scott Harper, starring Willaim Katt, Deedee Pfieffer

2. HESSEN CONSPIRACY (be)– d. Paul Bruels, starring Michael Bowen, Norman Bowman

3. IT BEGINS WITH THE END (fr)– d. Michael Cohen, starring Michael Cohen, Emmanuelle Beart

4. KILL SPEED (us)– d. Kim Bass, starring Andrew Keegan, Brandon Quinn

5. LAST NIGHT (us)– d. Massy Tadjedin, starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington www.lastnight2011.co.kr

6. NEVER LET ME GO (us)–d. Mark Romanek, starring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan www.neverletmego.co.kr

7. PAUL (es)– d. Greg Mottola, starring Simon Pess, Nick Frost www.paul2011.kr

8. SUCKER PUNCH (us)– d. Zack Snyder, starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish www.sucker-punch.kr

9. WAY BACK (kr)– d. Steve Lee, starring Yoo Seong-il, Park Glena

10. WOORI IUTUI BEONJWI– d. Min Byeong-jin, starring Shin Hyeon-joon, Jeon No-mi <English title not yet assigned>

I was half hoping that my inabilty to post images was caused by a problem with my laptop at home. However, I am encountering the same problem using my office computer.  So I will type out this week’s box office results here instead of using Photoshop.   

1. King’s Speech (uk)–  2. World Invasion (us)– 3. Little Black Dress (kr)– 4. I Love You (kr)–  5. Wiheomhan Sangkyeonrye (kr)– 6. Red Riding Hood (us)– 7. Black Swan (us)— 8. Romantic Heaven (kr)– 9. Morning Glory (us)– 10. My Name is Kahn (in)

It was a very tight race between King’s Speech and World Invasion and the end result was separated by less than half a percentage point. The former film took 15.6% percent of the box office on 404 screens while the latter received 15.2% on 359 screens. The Korean film I Love You has now spent four weeks in the fourth tier while director Jang Jin’s new film, Romantic Heaven, was not very well received. It earned just 3.9% of the box office tallies on 338 screens and landed at number 8 in its opeing week. The fifth place film has not even officially opened according to KOFIC. That will happen next week depsite being on some 354 screens this past weekend.  It has not yet been assigned an English name.  That film, and others opening this coming week, are listed below in alphabetical order.

1. Confessions (jp)– d. Tesuya Nakashima, starring Takako Matsu, Masaki Okada– www.goback2011.co.kr

2. Julia’s Eyes (es)– d. Guillem Morales, starring Belen Rueda, Lluis Homar www.julia-eye.co.kr

3. Little Fockers (us)– d. Paul Weitz, starring Robert DiNero, Ben Stiller www.meet3.co.kr <opening as Meet the Parents 3>

4. Pool (jp)– d. Mika Ohmori, starring Ryo Kase, Satomi Kobayashi

5. Vanishing on 7th Street (us)– d. Brad Anderson, starring Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo www.vanishing.co.kr  <opening as Vanishing>

6. Wiheomhan Sanggyeonrye (kr)– d. Kim Jin-yeong, starring Song Sae-byeok, Lee Shi-yeong http://danger2011.kr

Well, this week’s box office results are in and if you have been watching the news or following promos about upcoming Korean films, you may be surprised at one ommision from the top ten. Im Kwon-taek’s 101st film, Hanji failed to rate higher than 11th nationally despite opening on 161 screens. In fact in almost every province in Korea, the movie ranked only 11th or 12th place. The sole exception was here in North Jeolla Province where the movie ranked 1st taking 20.9% of the box office! The reason of this was simply regional interest as the area is the home of Hanji. Another prominent director, Jang Jin, will be releasing his film, Romantic Heaven, this week. It is listed below with the other movies opening this week.

1. Another Year (uk)– d. Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent, Ruth Sheen

2. Hereafter (us)– d. Clint Eastwood, starring Matt Damon, Cecile de France www.hereafter.kr

3. Imagining Argentina (es)– d. Christopher Hampton, starring Antonio Banderas, Emma Thompson

4. Little Black Dress (kr)– d. Heo In-moo, starring Yoon Eun-hye, Park Han-byeol www.minidress2011.co.kr

5. My Name is Khan (in)– d. Karan Johar, starring Shahrukh Khan, Kajol Mukherjee www.2011khan.co.kr

6. Ong Bak 3 (th)– d. Tony Jaa, starring Tony Jaa, Dan Chupong

7. Rolling Stars (kr)– d. Im Sang-joon, voiced by Ryu Seung-ryong, Ryu Deok-hwan www.rollingstars.ki

8. Romantic Heaven (kr)– d. Jang Jin, starring Kim Soo-ro, Kim Dong-wook www.romanticheaven.co.kr

9. Tears of Africa (kr)— d. Jang Hyeong-won, Han Hak-soo, starring Yoon Hee-yeong, Jeong Seok-hoo www.tearsafrica.com <documentary>

10. Time Traveller (jp)– d. Masauki Taniguchi, starring Riisa Naka, Akinohu Nikao

The new Korean movie that opened last weekend that I listed under its Korean name Sarang Mooseoweo was given an official English name and will be known as Shotgun Wedding internationally. However, the movie fell before World Invasion and Black Swan, landing in the number 3 position.   Of interest this coming weekend is director Im Kwon-taek’s 101st film, Hanji.  Hanji is the tradional paper made from rice that North Jeolla Province is famous for. A number of film critics have already panned the film saying it is too much like a documentary instead of the drama it was intended to be and Im himself has expressed some regrets with the film. I plan to keep an open mind while viewing it, though and remain hopeful.  This and other movies being released this coming week are detailed below.

1. Beastly (us)– d. Daniel Barnz, starring Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens www.beastly.co.kr

2. Dooman River (kr)– d. Lu Zhang, starring Choi Geon, Yoon Ran

3. Hanji (kr)– d. Im Kwon-taek, starring Park Joong-hoon, Kang Soo-yeon  www.hanji2011.co.kr

4. Kamui Gaiden (jp)– d. Yoichi Sai, starring Kenichi Matsuyama, Koyuki 

5. King’s Speech (uk)– d. Tom Hooper, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush http://kingsspeech.co.kr

6. Morning Glory (us)– d. Roger Michell, starring Rachel McAdams, Harrison Ford www.goodmorningeveryone.co,kr (opening as Good Morning, Everyone)

7. Red Riding Hood (us)– d. Catherine Hardwick, starring Amanda Seyfried, Shiloh Fernandez www.redridinghood.kr

8. Way Back (us)– d. Peter Weir, starring Jim Sturgess, Colin Farell www.thewayback.co.kr

9. Wendell Baker Story (us)– d. Luke Wilson, starring Luke Wilson, Eva Mendes (opening as Trouble Love)

Spring is finally here!  This weekend, the national news reported when the cherry trees and forthysias will begin blooming so festivals throughout the country can prepare to welcome them. The local news reported that the frogs have awoken while the spice bushes, snowdrops and helleborus are all blooming (Sometimes, I love the news).  In my village, the annual Strawberry Festival has started..even though they are all greenhouse raised, it’s still nice to have fresh fruit. There were some strange stirrings in the box office over the weekend. While movies sliding, shifting and even plummeting down the ranks of the box office is quite common, it is far less common for the movies to move up. But that is exactly what happened. The first was no surprise as the Black Swan moved up one spot from last week to take the tip spot away from the falling Children…  Nationally, Black Swan took home almost a quarter of the box office totals. However the surprise was with I Love You which rose from number 10 where it opened last week on 322 screens, to number 4 on just thirty additional screens.  A romance featuring senior couples might seem like an unlikely choice for word-of -mouth to propel upwards, but the reason lies in the acting of the vertran cast which includes Lee Soon-jae, Kim Soo-mi, Song Jae-ho and Yoon So-jeong. Keep Kim Soo-mi in mind.. I saw one of her earlier movies last weekend and will prepare a review of it for here this week.  Below, I have listed the new movies that will grace Korean theaters later this week.

1. BUTTERFLY EFFECT 3 (us)– d. Seth Grossman, starring Crhis Carmack, Rachel Miner

2. DRIFTING AWAY (kr)– d. Kim Dong-won, starring Lee Kyeon, Ko Joon-hee

3. FIGHTER (us)– d. David Russell, starring Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale www.thefighter.co.kr

4. SARNAGI MOOSEOWEO (kr)– d. Jeong Woo-cheol, starring Im Chang-jeong, Kim Gyu-ri www.sarangi.co.kr

5. SOUTHERN JUSTICE (us)– d. Wayne Rose, starring Steven Seagal, Warren Christie

6. TIMER (us)– d. Jac Schaeffer, starring Emma Caulfield, John Amedori

7. WORLD INVASION 9us)– d. Jonathan Liebesman, starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriquez www.world-invasion.co.kr

Although it put in an excellent showing, the critically acclaimed Black Swan failed to dislodge the mystery Children… from the number one spot.  The latter film managed to nearly double its box office tallies over the course of the week inching it closer to 1.5 million viewers. However, it seems unlikely that Children… will overtake the historic comedy Detective K in terms of numbers of movie-goers paying to see it. Even as it starts its slow slide down the box office chart, Detective K has sold nearly 4 and a half million tickets since it opened at the end of January.   Late Autumn, starring Hyeon Bin,  dropped even faster, moving from number two last week to number 6 but if you are a fan of Hyeon Bin you have nothing to worry about. He will be starring in a new film opening this week called Come Rain, Come Shine. Information about this and the other new movies are listed below.

1. ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (us)– d. George Nolfi, starring Matt Damon, Emily Blunt www.controller2011.co.kr <opening in Korea as Controller>

2. BLEAK NIGHT (kr)– d. Yoon Seong-hyeon, starring Lee Je-hoon, Seo Joon-yeong

3. COME RAIN, COME SHINE (kr)– d. Lee Yoon-gi, starring Im Soo-jeong, Hyeon Bin www.saranghanda.co.kr 

4. GOODBYE, PYEONGYANG (kr)– d. Yang Yeong-hee, starring Yang Seon-hwa, Yang Geon-hwa <documentary>

5. RANGO (us)– d. Gore Verbinski, voiced by Johnny Depp, Ilsa Fisher www.rango2011.co.kr

6. REMEMBER ME (us)– d. Allen Coulter, starring Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin www.remember-me.co.kr

7. 13 BELOVED  (th)– d. Chutiat Sakveerakul, starring Krissada Terrence, Achita Sikamana

Children (listed last week as Aideul) landed at number one in what turned out to be a rather poor weekend attendence-wise for films in general. This was the first weekend of real spring weather which was really needed after this winter–especially for the poor people living in the eastern provinces of Korea who were buried under snow. I will give my opinion on Children later this week–possibly tomorrow. Late Autumn, starring popular talent Hyeon Bin, landed in the number two position.  Detective K remained strong and now has gathered more than 4 million viewers since it opened at the end of last month. Last week, I listed a film Geudaereul Saranghabnida.  KOFIC has assigned it the title I Love You but has indicated that this is a working title implying that it could change at some point in the future. It has not yet assigned an English title to Hyeoltoo, listed below as opening next week. I expect that movie to challenge Children for the number one position next week–but my money is on Children coming out on top again. Black Swan is also opening. While I don’t think it will dominate the box office next week, I have heard good things about it and I am interested in seeing it.

1. ALPHA AND OMEGA (us)– d. Ben Gluk, voiced by Jason Long, Hayden Panettiere www.alphaomega3d.co.kr

2. BLACK SWAN (us)– d. Darren Aronofsky, starring Natalie Portman, Mike Kunis www.blackswan2011.co.kr

3. HYEOLTOO (kr)– d. Park Hoon-jeong, starring Park Hee-soon, Jin Gu www.showdown2011.co.kr

4. I AM NUMBER 4 (us)– d. D.J. Caruso, starring Alex Pettyfer, Dianna Agron http://i-am-no4.co.kr

5. MAP OF THE SOUNDS OF TOKYO (es)– d. Isabel Coixet, starring Rinko Kikuchi

6. MECHANIC (us)– d. Simon West, starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster www.mechanic.co.kr

7. SON OF BABYLON (iraq)– d. Mohamed Al Daradji, starring Yasser Talib, Shazda Hussein

8. SUPERNOVA (us)– d. Anthony Fenkhauser, starring Brian Krause, Heather McComb <opening is Korea as 2012: Supernova>

9. TRUE GRIT (us)– d. Ethan Coen, starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon www.thebravemovie.co.kr <opeing in Korea as The Brave>

10. YUGIOH THE MOVIE (jp)– d. Kenichi Takeshita www.yugio-movie.co.kr

Detective K managed to not only survive some potentially strong competition from new movies but to dominate and remain firmly in the number one spot for a third week in a row with Rapunzel as its closest rival. Interestingly, the lower half of the box office chart was comprised mostly of films that have not been officially released yet; 127 Hours, Aideul…, and Geudaereul Saranghabnida. The latter two films have not yet received English titles but I am particularly interested in Aideul…   It is based on the real life disappearance of five young boys who went off to catch frogs in the woods outside of Daegu and never returned. A film was made about the incident in 1990, but at the time no one knew if the children were alive or dead.  Four or five years ago, the remains of the children were found, apparently moved from wherever they had been hidden earlier, with clear evidence of foul play. The fact that they were moved and re-buried is pretty convincing evidence that the killer is still out there. I expect that film will do quite well but it is hard to predict with 16 other films being released on the same day. They are all listed below.

1. Aideul… (kr)– d. Lee Gyu-man, starring Park Yong-woo, Ryu Seung-ryong www.children2011.co.kr

2. Atashin’chi (jp)– d. Tetsuo Yasumi, voiced by Kumiko Watanbe, Fumiko Orikasa

3. Confessions (jp)– d. Tetsuya Nakashima, starring Takako Matsu, Masaki Okada

4. Geudaereul Saranghabnida (kr)– d. Choo Chang-min, starring Lee Soon-jae, Yoon So-jeong www.iloveyou2011.co.kr

5. Late Autumn (kr)– d. Kim Tae-yong, starring Hyeon Bin, Wei Tang www.manchu2011.co.kr

6. Lourdes (au)– d. Jessica Hausner, starring Sylvie Testud, Lea Seydoux

7. Mechanic (us)– d. Simon West, starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster

8. Miyoko (jp)– d. Yoshifumi Tsubota, starring Kenji Mizuhashi, Marie Machida

9. Mongol (de)– d. Sergei Bodrov, starring Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun

10. 127 Hours (us)– d. Danny Boyle, starring James Franco, Kate Mara

11. Paris 36 (fr)– d. Christophe Barratier, starring Geraud Jugnot, Clovis Cornillac

12. Re-Encounter (kr)– d. Min Yong-geun, starring Yoo Da-in, Yoo Yeon-seok

13. Soul Kitchen (de)– d. Fatih Akin, starring Moritz Bleibtreu, Birol Unel

14. Super Monkey Returns (kr)– d. Shin Dong-yeob, starring Kim Byeong-man, Ham Min-gwan

15. Tundra (kr)– d. Kim Jong-il, Jang Kyeong-soo, starring Lee Yong-taek, Kim Tae-jeong <documentary>

16. Unknown (us)– d. James Collet-Serra, starring Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger

17. Whisper (us)– d. Stewart Hendler, starring Josh Holloway, Sarah Collins