Viewers Returns to Multiplexes Following Ease of Restrictions 

Business soared 130% week-on-week owing to the twin boosts of a massive easing of Covid restrictions and the entry of the latest Marvel tentpole. Admissions reached 1.36 million, but with still no new local content, the domestic market share failed to crack 1%. 

Despite lukewarm reactions from critics, Eternals, the latest Marvel film directed by Academy Award-winner Chloe Zhao and featuring local star Don Lee (aka Ma Dongseok) in the mix, had a muscular debut in the Korean market.

The Disney film sold 1.14 million tickets (USD 10.21 million) over the weekend, the best start for a foreign title during the pandemic and the best opening of any film in 2021. Over its first five days, the film has amassed 1.61 million entries (USD 14.33 million). With no new tentpoles on the immediate horizon, the comic book title has breathing room to add significantly to that total, but middling audience reactions may put a dent in its longevity on the charts.

The sci-fi adaptation Dune dropped 48% during its third weekend, with 126,000 spectators (USD 1.18 million) counted over the frame. The Warner Bros film crossed the 1 million viewers (USD 9.02 million) mark early on Monday morning.

Sony’s Marvel title Venom: Let There Be Carnage crashed 76% during its fourth weekend as it gave most of its screens over to Eternals. With 47,000 seats filled (USD 421,000), the film’s new total is 2.08 million admissions (USD 17.45 million).

The animation Ron’s Gone Wrong slowed 44% during its second weekend, welcoming 34,000 viewers (USD 271,000) to bring its haul to 135,000 entries (USD 1.04 million).

Rising ups to fifth place in its sophomore spin on the charts was the British animation OCTONAUTS: Above & Beyond. The film eased 38%, adding 6,500 spectators (USD 47,000), with 20,000 tickets (USD 144,000) sold thus far.

Eternals will prove a tough competitor for the many new entrants on the chart this week, which include The Addams Family 2, Demon Slayer: Sibling’s Bond, the follow-up to last year’s smash hit Japanese animation, and the gangster drama Tomb of the River, the first major local title since the Chuseok holidays in September.