Korea Week Box Office - Sept. 2-3

I guess I should think about adding a weekly box office column, just to be all cool and professional like Ryuganji. Or something like that.

FYI, I am going to use Film 2.0's stats. Sure, KOFIC is more accurate, but it only looks at 86% of the market. Until they get up closer to 100% (hopefully in a year or so), I will use Film 2.0.

This Week	Title........................................	Release Date	Screens Nationwide	Weekend Attendance (Seoul only)	Total Attendance
1.	Sinking of Japan	8.31	256	99,800	479,000
2.	The Host	7.27	308	72,900	12,511,500
3.	Like a Virgin	8.31	212	66,000	234,000
4.	No Mercy for the Rude	8.24	220	56,800	749,200
5.	Woman on the Beach	8.31	170	47,600	133,600
6.	Lake House	8.31	133	43,400	103,900
7.	Lump of Sugar	8.10	139	24,000	1,384,000
8.	Ice Bar	8.24	200	16,800	447,300
9.	Banlieue 13	8.24	80	15,900	212,700
10.	Holy Daddy	8.24	193	11,200	446,900

(source: Film 2.0)

So, what to make of all this? The Japanese disaster movie SINKING OF JAPAN became the film to finally dethrone THE HOST, after a long and amazing run in No. 1 spot. In fact, this looks to be the best opening for a non-anime Japanese film ever in Korea, and the movie could possibly surpass LOVE LETTER as the top Japanese film ever in Korea (again, not including animation). One factor that could hurt its haul, though, is poor word of mouth. Just like in Japan, people do not seem to like SINKING very much (in the words of one friend, "It's boring... It doesn't sink").

I should point out that Japan did not return the favor. THE HOST opened in Japan last weekend, but came in just a wimpy 7th. Kind of disappointing.

It was, however, a very good opening for Hong Sang-soo's WOMAN ON THE BEACH. In fact, it was his second-best opening, after WOMAN IS THE FUTURE OF MAN (which had its numbers boosted by its star, Yu Ji-tae). Consider this a statement to Kim Ki-duk that a Korean filmmaker can be arthouse and respected abroad and pull in good numbers in Korea.