WAITING FOR RAIN Slips to Second in Sophomore Frame 

With a heavy sandstorm blanketing the country partly affecting people’s movements, the weekend saw a hefty 30% drop in admissions, with 305,000 tickets sold over the three-day session. After a month of local chart toppers, a new Hollywood animated sequel claimed the top spot, pushing the local market share down to 32%.

The Croods: A New Age, a new Hollywood animation, bowed in first place in the Korean market with 48,000 sales (USD 382,000) over the weekend and 165,000 admissions (USD 1.31 million) over its first five days, having made the lion’s share of that, over 100,000 sales, on the Children’s Day holiday on Wednesday. The first The Croods film welcomed close to 1 million viewers in 2013.

Following its first place debut last week, local romantic drama Waiting for Rain slowed 63% in its sophomore frame, during which it filled 45,000 seats (USD 393,000). After 12 days the film has been viewed by 299,000 spectators (USD 2.46 million).

Dropping a spot and 49% was the British spy drama The Courier, with added 45,000 sales (USD 395,000) over the weekend, beefing up its haul to 228,000 entries (USD 1.89 million).

Rising a spot though it was down 36% was Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train which has remained in the top five for over three months. The hit Japanese animation added 28,000 viewers  (USD 250,000), lifting its total to 1.96 million admissions (USD 16.96 million). If it can hang around for a few weeks longer, the film may surpass both Tenet (1.99 million viewers) and Soul (2.05 million viewers) to become the most well-attended foreign film to be released in Korea during the pandemic so far, though it may be beaten to the title by some upcoming, long-delayed tentpoles.

Following its Oscar boost, Academy Award-winning Minari was down a rank and 54%, adding another 24,000 viewers  (USD 203,000) to its total which now counts 1.09 million entries (USD 8.83 million).

Looking to open first this coming weekend will be Spiral, the latest film in the American Saw horror franchise. However it’ll be a short-lived victory as the latest instalment of the Fast and the Furious franchise finally opens in theatres next week.