Korean Cinemas Await Lunar New Year Boost

Week-to-week sales were down 20% in the Korean market, the fourth straight week of declines, as Omicron concerns and social distancing restrictions continued to impact theatrical admissions. 712,000 tickets were sold over the weekend, with the local market share edging up slightly to 37%.

Topping the box office charts for a fifth consecutive weekend was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was down 43% as it welcomed an additional 172,000 viewers (USD 1.48 million). To date, the film has brought in 6.9 million spectators (USD 58.26 million), close to twice as much as the next highest-grossing film released during the pandemic (Escape from Mogadishu(2021) - 3.6 million admissions).

Entering the charts in second place was the new action-thriller Special Delivery with Parasite (2019) star Park Sodam. The film recorded 160,000 entries (USD 1.33 million) over the weekend, with a total of 233,000 seats (USD 1.88 million) filled since its Wednesday debut. Local reactions have been mixed, though mostly positive, casting doubt over the film’s longevity on the charts.

Hanging on in third place after a slight 34% dip was the Hollywood animation Sing 2. The sequel accrued 134,000 sales (USD 1.07 million) over the weekend, raising its total to 499,000 admissions (USD 3.85 million).

Down a steep 65% after its debut, local crime drama The Policeman’s Lineage was down two spots as it added 91,000 entries (USD 779,000) to its total. Starring Cho Jinwoong and Choi Wooshik, the film has brought in 557,000 spectators (USD 4.6 million) to date.

Closing out the top five was the debut of Steven Spielberg’s musical remake West Side Story. The film filled 42,000 seats (USD 386,000) over the weekend, with a total of 78,000 sales (USD 688,000) counted over its first five days.

Though it doesn’t come out until next week, the upcoming Lunar New Year title The Pirates : The Last Royal Treasure is already comfortably leading the reservations chart, indicating what should be a sizeable debut when it launches next Wednesday.