Slow Market Prepare for Lifting of Covid Restrictions 

Sales at the Korean box office slipped again, dropping 20% to 589,000 admissions, and with no new commercial domestic titles for well over a month, the local market share edged down to 5%. However, the market is poised to make a major recovery this week as restrictions begin to lift in Korea’s new ‘Living with Covid’ phase, which began on Monday. Full opening hours have been restored, while food will once again be permitted to be consumed in theaters, which is expected to give struggling exhibitors a significant boost.

Leading this final frame of Covid restrictions was the sci-fi epic Dune, which rose to first place after dropping just 11% over its second weekend. The big-budget film got off to a bad start in the market, but word of mouth has kicked in, with special formats such as IMAX in particularly high demand. The film added 244,000 sales (USD 2.25 million) over the weekend, raising its total to 763,000 admissions (USD 6.86 million).

Down 44% in week three, the Sony-Marvel sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage drew 194,000 spectators (USD 1.65 million), and its total currently stands at a healthy 1.97 million entries (USD 16.68 million).

The US animation Ron’s Gone Wrong opened in third place with 60,000 sales (USD 486,000), with 85,000 viewers (USD 645,000) welcomed over its first five days in theaters.

Local hit thriller On the Line is still a presence in theaters after seven weeks of release. The film was down 36% and rose one spot to fourth with 11,000 sales (USD 95,000). To date, the CJ Entertainment-distributed title has welcomed 1.41 million visitors (USD 11.83 million).

Bond’s latest entry No Time to Die slipped two spots and 54%, with 11,000 viewers (USD 89,000) recorded over the weekend and a new total of 1.22 million entries (USD 10.14 million).

The first major new release to benefit from theaters with no restrictions will be Marvel’s latest film The Eternals, featuring local star Don Lee (aka Ma Dongseok) in his Hollywood debut. As of Monday morning, the film is currently claiming 80% of all pre-sales and is poised for a large debut.