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SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS Assembles in First Place

Oct 26, 2020
  • Writer by Pierce Conran
  • View4584
Local Titles Lead as Market Grows


Foot traffic at Korean cinemas remained low over the weekend, especially compared to crowded weekends in China and Japan, but business was nevertheless up 40% compared to the previous weekend with 565,000 tickets sold over the frame. Led by a well-received new entry, local titles dominated the market, accounting for four of the top five films and 83% of all sales.

LEE Jong-pil’s 90s-set women-led office drama SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS arrived in the marketplace with plenty of anticipation and good will that has accumulated over the past several weeks, as well as good reviews and positive reactions from audiences. The film handily led the marketplace with 271,000 viewers (USD 2.14 million) over the weekend and a total of 359,000 entries (USD 2.73 million) since its Wednesday debut. With the buzz around the film and a lack of immediate competition, KO Asung, E Som and PARK Hye-su should have little trouble repeating on the charts this coming weekend.

Slowing a mild 36% in its fourth week was the Chuseok champ Pawn with another 73,000 tickets (USD 513,000) sold. The JK Film drama with HA Ji-won and SUNG Dong-il has now amassed 1.58 million admissions (USD 12.02 million), the best performance for a Korean film since DELIVER US FROM EVIL in early August.

Debuting in third place was the local music documentary Mr. Trot: The Movie. The film debuted in a close second place on Thursday, but like most event music docs quickly lost steam in the following days. Over the weekend the film filled 58,000 seats (USD 477,000) with 87,000 entries (USD 690,000) counted over its first four days.

After leading the charts in its debut last week, the YOO Ah-in vehicle Voice of Silence dropped a steep 70% and fell three spots, with 55,000 sales (USD 439,000) amassed over its sophomore frame, giving it a nine-day haul of 345,000 admissions (USD 2.7 million). Despite a strong critical reaction, the film hasn’t resonated with audiences and was quickly drown out by SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS.

Japanese animation Fate/stay night [Heaven’s Feel] III. spring song rounded out the top five with 21,000 spectators (USD 178,000) over its debut weekend, and 31,000 tickets (USD 252,000) sold over four days.

While SAMJIN COMPANY ENGLISH CLASS should handily lead the charts into next week, a new ‘final cut’ of DELIVER US FROM EVIL and a rerelease of Whiplash will also be vying for some space in the marketplace.
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