Things keep looking up for the local industry as admissions over the weekend reached 4.82 million, setting a new benchmark for the year. Coming up tops again following an 18% increase, Veteran added 2.25 million viewers (USD 15.33 million) to a powerful 12-day haul of 6.64 million spectators (USD 44.16 million). With strong word of mouth and the help of Liberation Day falling on Saturday, RYOO Seung-wan’s comic action-thriller boosted the Korean market share to 79% by exceeding its already strong debut as it hurtles towards the 10 million viewer mark.

 

Dropping only 8% in its fourth spin on the charts, CHOI Dong-hoon’s Assassination was no slouch, adding 989,585 viewers (USD 6.65 million) as it became the 15th film to cross the 10 million mark in Korean on Saturday morning. With still some gas left in the tank, the hit has so far accumulated 10.65 million (USD 70.06 million).

 

Less fortunate was Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation, which receded 50%, adding 469,295 more viewers (USD 3.17 million) in its third frame for a 5.62 million total (USD 37.71 million). The Tom Cruise tentpole performed strongly initially but has been unable to compete with local hits and will fall short of its predecessor’s box office haul in the market.

 

Not far behind was Dreamworks’ Minions, which dropped just 16%, adding 267,891 viewers (USD 1.16 million) to a total of 2.27 million (USD 13.92 million), during what has been a strong period for US animation. Down in seventh place, Pixar’s Inside Out added 131,898 viewers (USD 842,309 million), reaching 4.78 million (USD 31 million).

 

In fifth and sixth place, two new Korean films fared less well, as the family drama Wonderful Nightmare, with UHM Jeong-hwa and SONG Seung-heon, debuted to a lackluster 256,199 admissions (USD 1.66 million), while expensive period epic Memories of the Sword proved a massive flop for stars LEE Byung-hun and JEON Do-yeon, recording a tepid 247,119 (USD 1.67 million) debut.

 

Peaking in at tenth place was the Korean Academy of Film Arts’ Alice in Earnestland, the biggest diversity film of the weekend, with 11,945 viewers (USD 85,744), a strong debut for a local independent release. The major new offering this week will be the local melodrama The Beauty Inside, with HAN Hyo-joo, while KIM Hwi’s horror film The Chosen: Forbidden Cave and 20th Century Fox’s comic book entry Fantastic Four will also enter the fray.