This weeks box office results have arrived and once again, Ironman 2 dominates while Blades of Blood continues to perform well. Best Seller and Korea 1% fluctuated as to which film was in third place regionally with Best Seller coming out on top.  The larger differences however, come in the lower tiers of the box office charts. Across the nation, some older animations opened to celebrate Children’s Day on May 5th which is why Nocturna, from last year, wound up in the 10th place spot in Jeonju. Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms found it’s way back into the charts in the province just south of here. In many provinces, Solar 123–a recently remastered animation from 1982 created by the same director who made Robot Taekwon V– placed as high as 8th in the box office.  However, due to its size, it is Seoul that drives the national list and there that classic film ranked 48th.  In Jeonju, Restoration resurfaced into the top ten. Since January, this documentary has been hovering just outside the top ten. Seven or eight weeks ago, it managed to land at number 8 and appeared on the charts for a couple of weeks before disappearing. While these small films and re-releases squeaked their way into the box office, HaHaHa was nowhere to be seen outside of the large cities. In Seoul it ranked at number 8, but in most other places it was either outside of the top ten or was not released. In fact, the film was only released on 25 screens–13 of which were in Seoul, 3 in Incheon and 2 in Busan. The question now though is ‘What will happen this weekend?’ The Housemaid is opening on May 13th. Will it be able to take on the still-strong Ironman?  I am leaning towards ‘yes’ and have plans to see it on opening day. Below is what else is opening this Thursday…

1. Geunyeo-ege (kr)–d. Kim Seong-ho, starring Lee Woo-seong, Jo Seong-ha <I have just seen on Daum that the English name will be She Came From…>

2. The Housemaid (kr)–d. Im Sang-soo, starring Jeon Do-yeon, Lee Jeong-jae www.housemaid.co.kr

3. Poetry (kr)–d. Lee Chang-dong, starring Yoon Jeong-hee, Lee Da-wit www.poetry2010.co.kr

4. Rassvet(ru/ch)–d. Vitali Mansky, starring Vitali Mansky <documentary>

5.Robin Hood (us)– d. Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett www.robinhood2010.kr