Confirming the Korean Audiences' Response to the Marvel's Next-generation Superhero

On the first weekend of April 2022, the Hollywood superhero movie Morbius topped the box office with 58.1% of sales. Morbius is an ‘anti-superhero’ film of Marvel Comics, and the character is connected to the ‘Spider-Man Universe’ of Sony Pictures. The sales record can confirm the response of Korean audiences to Marvel's next-generation ‘superhero.’

According to Korean Box Office Information System (KOBIS) at 7 a.m. on April 4, Morbius recorded 204,472 viewers (USD 1.7 million) from April 1st (Friday) to April 3rd (Sunday), the first weekend it was released. Since its release on March 30 (Wed), the film has topped the daily box office for five consecutive days, with a cumulative audience of 312,055 viewers (USD 2.47 million).

With the release of Morbius, the top three films at the box office last week fell one step each. HOT BLOODED, Novelist Cheon Myoungkwan’s directorial debut, which was ranked 1st place last week, is 2nd place, while Choi Minshik's human drama IN OUR PRIME is 3rd, and the Japanese animation 0 Jujutsu Kaizen: Zero is 4th place. 

5th place is Vanishing, which was released on March 30. Vanishing is a global project directed by French director Denis Dercourt and starring Korean actor Yoo Yeonseok and Hollywood star Olga Kurylenko, who is famous as a ‘Bond girl’ in the 2008 James Bond film. Set in Korea, the film is a mystery crime thriller a Korean detective and a French forensic scientist investigate a mysterious murder case together. It was highly expected by featuring Korean actors such as Yea Jiwon and Choi Moosung.  Especially, as a supported Location Incentive for Foreign Audio-visual works by KOFIC in 2020, Vanishing was filmed in Seoul, Incheon, Goyang, Ilsan, and Paju from September to October 2020. 

Nominated films at the 94th Academy Awards were also listed in the top 10 at the box office. Kristen Stewart was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards for the first time in her life for playing Diana Frances Spencer, Princess of Wales, in SPENCER, which is ranked in 7th place. In addition, Pedro Almodovar's Madres Paralelas, starring Penelope Cruz, another nominee for the Oscar for Best Actress, is 8th place after its release on March 31. 

SIGNAL The Movie Cold Case Investigation Unit, a remake of a popular Korean TV series in Japan is ranked 9th place. The film gathered high expectations by featuring Japanese stars such as Sakaguchi Kentaro, Kazuki Kitamura, and Michiko Kichise, all of whom are also well known in Korea. 

The number of moviegoers on the first weekend of April is around 359,000, a slight increase from 352,000 in the previous week.