[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.12.05 ~ 2014.12.07

Scott's Epic Exodus Grounds "Interstellar"...

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Nolan's "Interstellar" was November in Korea. It dictated terms and elevated itself well above the competition ("Fashion King", "Cart", "Fury", "Big Match"), each week and without fail. So successful was this space odyssey's reign, that its nearest challenger claimed no more than half of its black and bloated bottom-line each weekend.

It's not over yet, but the film has so far absorbed nearly 10 million admissions ($65.2M): a mega-milestone in Korea that currently only a dozen features can boast (all after 2003 starting with "Silmido"). "Snowpiercer" (9.3M), "The Face Reader" (9.1M), and "Iron Man 3" (9M) have all had a recent sniff, and "Interstellar" still needs a further 800K to buy into this elite club.

It would take a complete chronological turnaround to upset this zealous zeitgeist on its way to glory, something equally epic containing a hero, not of some dystopian disaster, but of a mythopoetic past with a familiar message. It was Ridley Scott's cinematic imagining of Moses (Bale) and his earthly Exodus that would eventual stunt Nolan's blasphemous blockbuster (a film Ridley dedicates to Tony, his brother, who left us two years ago).

It was close, but "Exodus: Gods and Kings" came away with the crown with 579K (34.4%) over 865 screens, only 100K more than "Interstellar" (481K - 26.1%). Between these two star-crossed Titans 50% of the box office pie was gobbled and gone, and from third to sixth there also wasn't much in it.

Choi Ho's action flick "Big Match" fell just the one place to third, adding another 188K (10%) and bringing its total tally now to 946K ($6.4M). Close behind with 121K (6.5%) was Brad Pitt's "Fury" (enjoying its third weekend out), who in turn was tantalisingly tailed by Jin Mo-young's documentary "My Love, Don't Cross That River" (120K - 7%).

Jeon Hyeong-joon's comedy "Five Eagle Brothers" (his first in the chair) was released on the fourth and opened its account with 100K (5%) and sixth place. The film (which stars Yoon Sang-hyun, Song Sae-byeok, Lee Ah-i, Hwang Chan-sung, and Kim Ji-min) pooled its score from 346 screens and will no doubt find it tough going from here.

The Japanese animation "Howl's Moving Castle" (based on Diana W. Jones' novel of the same name; a film that had its premiere back in 2004) was re-released and performed solidly in seventh (64K - 3.3%), notably thumping "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" who fell four places to eighth. This penultimate picture has not caught on in Korea, and since its released on the 20th of last month it's scored a sorry 836K ($5.6M).

Lastly, the weekend's top ten was rounded out by "Dive Olly Dive: Happy Little Submarine" (based on the T.V series from Splash Entertainment), which claimed close to 17K, and then the sequel nobody asked for: "Dumb and Dumber To" (16K).

What's coming out next week in Korea? [HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...

Last weekend's report: [HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.11.28 ~ 2014.11.30

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.12.05 - 2014.12.07 (www.kobis.or.kr)

- C.J. Wheeler (@Woolgatherist; KoreaOnTheCouch)