[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2017.04.14 - 2017.04.16

"The Fate of the Furious" overtakes "Beauty and the Beast" for pole position...

Bill Condon's "Beauty and the Beast" was unable to secure a fifth-straight run at the top because of the arrival of a high-octane action film from director F. Gary Gray. "The Fate of the Furious" (also known as Fast & Furious 8), the eighth film in the franchise, arrived last Wednesday and scooped up the lion's share of the stubs (63.82%); from 1,467 screens around the country, "The Fate of the Furious" claimed 1.05 million admissions ($10.5 million). The film, which cost $250 million to produce, boasts an ensemble cast including Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, and others. Worldwide, the 'F8' has already grossed over half a billion dollars.

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The highest local entry was the recently released "Daddy You, Daughter Me" (Yoon Je-moon, Jung So-min, Lee Il-hwa) by Kim Hyeong-hyeop. Kim's debut, a comedy drama about a father-daughter relationship under pressure, captured 11.77% of the sales (205,675 admissions) from 518 screens. The success of the above-mentioned films meant that last weekend's number one-"Beauty and the Beast" (with Emma Watson, Dan Stevens)-fell two places to third. The film's fifth weekend out yielded just 153,386 admissions (9%), moving its total tally in Korea now to 4.8 million ($34.9 million); it is currently the third highest-grossing film in Korea this year behind "The King" ($38 million) and "Confidential Assignment" ($55.8 million).

Nah Hyeon's action crime flick "The Prison", his debut, has been on the heels of "Beauty and the Beast" since they were both released late last month. The 78,719 admissions Nah's film gathered here pushed its bottom line now over the $20 million mark (2.8 million admissions) and up to fifth in the list of the year's highest performers (the Japanese anime "Your Name" is next in fourth with $25.4 million).

The American sci-fi horror "Life" by director Daniel Espinosa fell two places to fifth with 40,021 admissions (2.35%), followed by the story of the unsung African American women who helped America win the Space Race with NASA: Theodore Melfi's "Hidden Figures". "Hidden Figures", an adaptation of Margot Lee Shetterly's novel of the same name, added 19,303 admissions to move its total in Korea to 403,247, or $2.8 million.

The local drama "One Day", starring Kim Nam-gil and Chun Woo-hee, Lee Yoon-ki's eighth film to date, capture the interest of 1% of the total sales (18,031 admissions) during its second weekend out. Kim's more recent works include "A Man and A Woman" (2015), "Come Rain Come Shine" (2011), and "My Dear Enemy" (2008). And the final three places all fell to foreign animations from America and Japan. "Elena and the Secret of Avalor", "Adventure Time with Finn and Jake Islands", and "Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic" all entered the fray last Wednesday and attracted 16,277 (0.79%), 11,235 ("0.64%), and 9,029 (0.49%) admissions respectively.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.04.14 - 2017.04.16 (www.kobis.or.kr)

- Chris Wheeler