The Assassin(s) Leads South Korea's Chuseok Box Office
The Assassin(s) topped the South Korean box office over the Sept. 25-27 weekend, winning the Chuseok holiday race by a clear margin.
The political crime thriller directed by Hur Jin-ho earned $8 million in South Korea over Sept. 25-27, according to KOBIS data reported by Variety. That total came from 1,119,156 admissions, or tickets sold, across 1,532 screens. It took 40.9% of the weekend market.
The gap was wide. The film had opened on Sept. 23, and through the end of Sept. 27 it had accumulated $11.2 million in South Korea from 1,566,222 admissions, the same KOBIS figures show.
Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub finished second in South Korea over Sept. 25-27 with $4.1 million from 566,526 admissions across 1,045 screens, according to KOBIS data reported by Variety. That was 21.3% of the weekend market. The film directed by Choi Kook-hee is the fourth entry in the gambling franchise.
Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub had earned $6.1 million in South Korea from 833,030 admissions since its Sept. 23 release, including previews, the KOBIS figures show. Together, the top two films accounted for more than six in ten tickets sold for the weekend.
The full South Korean market earned $19.6 million over Sept. 25-27, according to KOBIS data reported by Variety. The weekend sat inside the country’s four-day Chuseok holiday period, when three local films had been scheduled to open on Sept. 23, including The Assassin(s) and Possible Love, according to Yonhap. The Assassin(s) had already been tipped to lead the holiday frame in a report published on Sept. 24, according to Yonhap.
What makes this stand out is the concentration of business. Two home-grown releases took the top two places during a national holiday built for cinema-going. For fans, this means the choice at the counter was largely local.
KOBIS is the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. It counts admissions alongside grosses, so each ticket sold is recorded as well as the cash taken.
