NOTHING SERIOUS Stay 3rd Place after Strong Sophomore Hold

Local titles maintained an advantage at the Korean box office going into the last month of the year with a 51% share of the market. With new titles foundering and Omicron fears creeping into the public consciousness, admissions dipped a hefty 30%, with a total of 570,000 tickets snatched up over the weekend. 

Retaining the top spot during its second week on the charts was the local high concept action-thriller Spiritwalker with Yoon Kyesang. The film slowed 47% after its debut as it welcomed another 133,000 viewers (USD 1.16 million) to multiplexes. The film has filled 626,000 seats (USD 5.2 million) to date.

Disney’s latest animation Encanto also retained its spot on the charts after a 47% fall in second place. The film added 108,000 entries (USD 896,000) for an ongoing total of 438,000 admissions (USD 3.54 million).

Still in third place after a soft 26% decline was the local romantic comedy Nothing Serious. The film found another 105,000 spectators (USD 955,000) during its sophomore weekend, raising its 12-day haul to an even 400,000 sales (USD 3.46 million).

Hollywood sequel Ghostbusters: Afterlife barely made a blip during its launch with 48,000 seats (USD 407,000) filled over the weekend and 80,000 total entries (USD 661,000) recoded over its first five days. Lacking the nostalgia factor that the 80s SF-horror-comedy franchise maintains in several western markets, the film struggled to find an audience in Korea.

Closing out the top five was the acclaimed sci-fi Dune, which rose one spot and slowed just 12% as it continued to pack in IMAX theaters. The Warner Brothers title mustered 44,000 sales (USD 512,000) over the weekend for a new total of 1.5 million admissions (USD 13.77 million).

Looking to upstage the holdovers this coming weekend will be the K-pop concert film MONSTA X: THE DREAMING, as well as the Netflix film Don’t Look Up.