[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.01.20 ~ 2017.01.22

Local films "The King" and "Confidential Assignment" capture 70% of the sales...

Han Jae-rim's new film, "The King" (starring Zo In-sung, Jung Woo-sung and Bae Sung-woo), and Kim Jeong-hoon-III's sophomore feature, "Confidential Assignment" (with Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae-jin), entered the chart and secured a one-two finish for the home team.

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"The King" is Han's fourth feature film after "Rules of Dating" (2005), "The Show Must Go on" (2006), and the 2013 hit "The Face Reader". It tells the story of a greedy prosecutor's quest for power and the hard fall that follows. "The King" earned $13.17 million (1.3 million admissions) from 1,310 screens around the country to dislodge last weekend's number, Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name": the highest-grossing Japanese anime in history.

Kim's new blockbuster, "Confidential Assignment", produced for an estimated 10 billion won, rose to second place by capturing 27.2% of the sales (845,976 admissions) from 976 screens, ensuring that the bulk of the box office pie fell to local flicks; "The King" and "Confidential Assignment" together captured 70% of the sales.

Last weekend's one and two – Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name" and Disney's "Moana" – earned $1.87 million (260,594 admissions: 8.27%) and $2.29 million (335,059 admissions: 10.2%) respectively. Last weekend, "Your Name" overtook the iconic "Spirited Away" as the highest-grossing Japanese anime of all time; to date, "Your Name" has earned $331.6 million worldwide compared to "Spirited Aways"'s $289 million. Since its release in Korea on January 4, Shinkai's hit has earned $21.14 million (3 million admissions).

Hong Heon-pyo's action animation "Turning Mecard W: The Revival of Black Mirror" entered the fray last Wednesday and captured 5.79% of the weekend sales (197,204 admissions) from 570 screens. Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" (starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone), which won a record seven awards at this year's Golden Globes, moved its total admission count in Korea past 3 million with the 45,923 admissions (1.5%) it scored here. This is "La La Land" seventh week out in Korea since its release early in December last year.

"Allied", a romantic thriller by Robert Zemeckis, fell three places to seventh with 35,386 admissions (1.18%), bringing its total tally now to 461,676 ($3.26 million), followed by Cho Ui-seok's "Master" in eighth with 18,567 (0.61%). "Master" tentatively occupied third place last weekend with just 283,967 admissions (11.97%), but with the arrival of fresh local blockbusters, Cho Ui-seok's fourth feature fell sharply to eighth.

The final two places went to a re-release of the second installment in the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" (which went on to grossing $926 million back in 2002), and the Canadian-French drama "It's Only the End of the World" by Xavier Dolan. "The Two Towers" managed 13,055 admissions from just 56 screens (0.63%), while Dolan's award-winning film earned $91,583 (7,360 admissions) from 118 screens. "It's Only the End of the World" won the prestigious Grand Prix and Ecumenical Jury Prize at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival in France and it is Canada's official entry into this year's Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.01.20 - 2017.01.22 (www.kobis.or.kr)

- C.J. Wheeler