The Amazing Spider-Man 2 soars at the box office in spite of nation’s grief over the victims of the sunken Sewol ferry. According to the integrated ticket sales network of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) on April 27th, the film had a stellar debut at the top of the box office chart even in the disaster’s aftermath.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 took first place by drawing 1,296,190 viewers this past weekend (April 25th to 27th), following its release on April 23rd. The film has to date reached a total of 1,991,059 viewers. Of note are the number of screens, screening times and ticket sales share. The film has recorded 18,820 screening times and a 72.5% market share in 1,312 screens as of Sunday the 27th. It’s not a stretch to say that three-quarters of moviegoers this weekend watched The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The total attendance number may have been different if ticket sales had not been affected by the Sewol disaster. The film will be aiming to eclipse the 4.85 million spectators total of its 2012 predecessor. Thus its outcome will depend on its legs after April 30th, when the hotly anticipated Korean films The Fatal Encounter and The Target will debut.

 

There was also a surprising result on the charts. Mr. Peabody & Sherman, a Dreamworks Animation which was financed and distributed by CJ Entertainment, hit number two at the box office after its opening on the 24th. The new 3D animated feature movie by The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) director Rob Minkoff attracted 126,796 spectators during its first weekend. This ‘advanced canine’ kicked Captain America: The Winter Soldier to third place on the chart. The Captain had topped the chart for four weeks after its release on March 28th. Furthermore it added another 107,134 tickets over the weekend to bring its total 3,915,924 admissions, and is now about to crack four million viewers. Captain America: The Winter Soldier has led the box office in April, traditionally the off-season for Korean theaters.

 

Though touted as a promising Korean film, Broken will have to be satisfied with only cracking the one million spectator mark. The film added 87,281 viewers over the weekend to increase its total to 988,148 admissions. Despite the outstanding performances of JUNG Jae-young and LEE Sung-min, it seemed to have limits as a social thriller released during the off-season. However, Han Gong-ju is doing well at sixth on the daily chart. The film has accrued 141,558 admissions after adding 47,337 moviegoers over the weekend. Its distributor Movie Collage announced that it went “over 100,000 viewers in its first nine days… the shortest record in Korean indie film history.” It has developed a strong reputation from audiences due to its social subject (a teenage assault victim), the actors’ compelling performances and cinematic appeal. The Grand Budapest Hotel is also still performing well at the box office. The film brought in 13,403 spectators over the weekend to reach 693,896 viewers to date. It coined the neologism ‘Artbuster’, which references the impressive longevity of Wes Anderson’s art film.

 

On the diversity films chart, Paganini: The Devil’s Violinist was up top, after going on release on April 23rd. This musical film was number nine on the overall Korean box office chart as it drew 15,957 viewers in 96 screens. Just behind were Philomena and Grand Piano, which have brought in over 33,000 and 20,000 spectators, respectively.

 

 

By HA Sung-tae(Contributing Editor)