Chiikawa Stays on Top in South Korea as Paradise Lost Opens Third

Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island finished first at the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 23-25, its fourth weekend in cinemas. The anime film took 44.7% of the weekend market, according to KOBIS, the ticket-tracking service run by the Korean Film Council.

The film sold 320,293 tickets across 1,115 screens, earning $2.5 million (all figures in US dollars). Variety reported that since opening on Sept. 30, it has grossed $17.5 million from 2,248,137 admissions in South Korea. The film was directed by Kei Oikawa and adapted from the manga by Nagano.

The weekend's main new arrival was Paradise Lost, which opened in third place with $502,962 from 66,699 admissions on 803 screens, an 8.9% share. The film, directed and co-written by Yeon Sang-ho, opened in South Korea on Oct. 21. It stars Kim Hyun-joo and Bae Hyun-sung, who plays a boy who went missing years ago and later returns, according to The Korea Herald. Its total so far is $769,865 from 104,877 admissions.

The film has a wider path beyond South Korea. Yeon's company Wowpoint produced it, and CJ ENM distributed it in its home market. Screen Daily reported that the film was sold to 118 territories after its premieres at the Toronto and Busan festivals. Festivals like these are where sales agents, who sell films to distributors in other countries, meet buyers. Many of the deals struck there decide which films reach screens around the world, sometimes a year or more after the premiere.

The rest of the chart was busy too. The Assassin(s) came second with $520,822 from 68,241 admissions across 730 screens, a 9.2% share. It has now grossed $25 million from 3,374,517 admissions since its Sept. 23 rollout.

Clayface opened in fourth place with $388,947 from 48,245 admissions on 655 screens, a 6.9% share. Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub held on in fifth place during its fifth weekend, with $371,743 from 46,919 admissions on 618 screens, a 6.6% share. Its total stands at $15.3 million from 1,999,477 admissions.

For the weekend, Chiikawa's lead was the clearest number on the chart. Paradise Lost's debut is the number to watch next weekend, when its second frame shows whether audiences keep coming in after the opening days.