Chiikawa Movie Holds No.1 in South Korea With $2.8 Million Third Weekend

Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island stayed top of the South Korean box office over Oct. 16-18.

It refused to budge. The anime earned $2.8 million in its third frame, taking 42.7% of the weekend market, according to KOBIS data reported by Variety. KOBIS is the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

The Toho-distributed film drew 378,474 admissions — tickets sold — across 1,181 screens. Directed by Kei Oikawa and adapted from the manga by Nagano, it has now grossed $14 million from 1,828,909 admissions in South Korea since opening on Sept. 30.

The Assassin(s) held second place with $1 million from 140,017 admissions across 1,104 screens. That gave it a 15.5% share of the Oct. 16-18 weekend.

Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub placed third in its fourth weekend. It added $731,309 from 94,314 admissions across 789 screens for a 10.8% share.

The Odyssey finished fourth in its eleventh weekend with $580,011 from 52,439 admissions across 481 screens. Its share was 8.6%. The long run has now reached $104.1 million from 12,267,696 admissions in South Korea since opening on Aug. 5.

Two Hollywood newcomers entered lower down the chart. Whalefall debuted in fifth with $300,004 from 38,637 admissions across 621 screens over Oct. 16-18, or 4.4% of the market. Including its mid-week rollout from Oct. 14, it has accumulated $421,412 from 56,363 viewers.

Street Fighter opened in eighth with $122,148 from 16,813 admissions across 523 screens. Between the debuts, Look Back took sixth in its second weekend with $194,574 from 24,614 admissions across 271 screens, while Guardians of the Video Game opened seventh with $165,350 from 22,427 admissions across 566 screens.

The South Korean hold follows a long run at home. In Japan the film had grossed 17.1 billion yen, about $108 million, from 11.76 million admissions after 73 days in release, when it ranked fourth in its 11th weekend, according to Crunchyroll.

What makes this stand out is the shape of the win. A third-weekend film with more than 40% of the market is controlling the calendar, not just leading it. For general audiences, this means fewer screens left for new arrivals, however wide they open.