Korea-USA-Canada co-production animation
The Nut Job was released in China on December 26th and took the fourth spot at the box office during its first week. Out of the international titles currently in theaters, it was the top selling film. During its first weekend alone, it gathered USD 2.53 million. According to Chinese box office reports on January 3rd, the 9th day after its release, ticket sales reached USD 4.90 million. This is a better result than
Roaring Currents, which opened two weeks prior to
The Nut Job and collected USD 4.25 million, and also the Korean animation
Pororo: The Racing Adventure (2012), which earned USD 1.11 million. The Korean films that have been released in the mainland in the last three years include
Mr. Go (USD 18.14 million),
Snowpiercer (USD 11.98 million) and
Late Autumn (USD 10.49 million), with
The Nut Job following in 4th place.
In the film, a troublemaking squirrel named Surly goes on a mission to raid a nut store to steal peanuts with his friends. It is a family adventure animation which was shown on 3,472 screens in North America last year, where the film reached 2nd place on the daily chart several times during its first three weeks. The film earned USD 64.3 million, marking the best performance for a Korean film in the USA to date. It was exported to 140 other countries including Canada. Last year, the film brought in USD 130 million through theatrical runs and ancillary market sales. The production company behind the animation,
Redrover Co., Ltd believes the performance of
The Nut Job will act as a positive influence to their next film, Spark.