Chiikawa edges The Assassin(s) by 215 admissions to top Korean box office
215 admissions decided the South Korean box office. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island took No. 1 over the Oct. 9-11 weekend, edging local drama The Assassin(s) in one of the tightest races of the year, according to data from KOBIS, the box-office tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, via Variety.
Chiikawa earned $3.13 million in South Korea from 407,895 admissions across 1,067 screens. That was 29.7% of the weekend market. The Japanese animation opened wide on Sept. 30 and had reached $9.9 million from 1,281,485 admissions after the weekend.
It is directed by Kei Oikawa and adapted from the manga by Nagano. The film follows its small animal characters to a mermaid island. Its hold in a second full weekend was enough to pass two Korean live-action rivals.
The Assassin(s) finished second with $3.03 million from 407,680 admissions across 1,312 screens. It trailed Chiikawa by just 215 admissions and took 28.78% of the weekend market, despite playing on about 250 more screens.
The film is directed by Hur Jin-ho and distributed by Hive Media Corp. It dramatises the Aug. 15, 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee and stars Yu Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho. Since its Sept. 23 launch it has grossed $21.8 million from 2,992,543 viewers.
The close finish followed controversy around the film. A coalition of 19 Korean film guilds issued a joint statement defending cinematic freedom of expression, while cast members withdrew from public promotional appearances at the Busan International Film Festival.
Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub placed third with $1.4 million from 190,080 admissions across 949 screens. Since bowing on Sept. 23, it has grossed $13.1 million from 1,744,160 admissions.
The Odyssey finished fourth in its tenth weekend in South Korea with $979,402 from 95,215 admissions across 597 screens. It has now grossed $103.1 million from 12.1 million admissions in the country, making it the highest-grossing international release in Korean box-office history.
What makes this stand out is the split at the top. Two films took almost 60% of ticket sales between them, then daylight. Reawakened Man was fifth with $398,045 from 49,345 admissions across 623 screens, followed by Look Back with $339,468 from 41,423 admissions across 338 screens on its opening weekend.
