Korea Weekend Box Office - Dec. 1-3

Another quiet weekend this week, with SUNFLOWER (Haebaraji) rising a notch to take the No. 1 spot outright this week (last week it was No. 2 in Seoul, but No. 1 nationwide). I still have not seen it, though, so have nothing to say about the film.

No. 2 goes to Guillermo del Toro's fastasy epic PAN'S LABYRINTH, which makes me quite happy. With 215,700 admissions nationwide, that works out to around $1.45 million in its first three days. Not huge, but not bad for a Spanish-language film. One of the film's biggest problems, imho, is a slightly misplaced marketing campaign, which made the film look more like THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA than the dark, nuanced and fascinating film that it is. (Not that there is anything wrong with Narnia, but we're talking about totally different target audiences... kids versus adults). At the fairly full screening I was at Friday night, judging by the conversations I overheard on the way out, a lot of people were surprised and a little miffed by the movie. I, on the other hand, loved it and recommend it heartily. Gorgeous looking film, intriguing... just first-rate.

And although SUNFLOWER beat out PAN, it is worth noting that SUNFLOWER had around 75 percent more screens.

SAW 3 came in third, coincidentally enough. No comments about the gore-fest, either.

THE DEPARTED fell to No. 4, which does not surprise me. As I said last week, I found the film weak and lacking oomph. Apparently many Koreans agreed with me.

The big surprises to me are the Nos. 5 and 6 films, two new openings featuring actors who were once major players in the Korean entertainment scene. ONCE IN A SUMMER (Yeoreum Iyagi) stars Lee Byung-hun, in a story that seems rather like HARMONIUM IN MY MEMORY. SOLACE (Sarang Halttae Iyagi Haneun Geotdeul) features Han Suk-hyu, who starred in such 1990s hits as SHIRI and THE CONTACT (and a favorite of mine, GREEN FISH). Actually, neither flop was really a "surprise," but it is fascinating to see how tastes change.

About a year ago, I happened to meet Mr. Lee, when he talked about how he was torn about what to do next in his career -- stay in Korea, doing what he knows and does so well, or take a big risk and try to break into Hollywood. I hope this most recent setback encourages him to make the attempt to go abroad. I think it is almost always better to take a chance than to play it safe... but then I am not a big movie star, so what do I know?

To be fair to Mr. Lee, I'm guessing his latest film was made with the Japanese market in mind as much as (or even more than) the Korean market. So I think the poor debut does not reflect on his choice as much as it might otherwise. At any rate, I would like to mention that every time I have met Lee Byung-hun, he has always been very suave, mellow and a gentleman. I cannot claim to be friends with him or know him well, but he strikes me as being one of the good guys.

This Week	Title........................................	Release Date	Screens Nationwide	Weekend Attendance (Seoul only)	Total Attendance
1.	Sunflower	11.23	282	68,900	873,700
2.	Pan's Labyrinth	11.30	164	60,900	215,700
3.	Saw 3	11.30	194	57,100	230,900
4.	The Departed	11.23	191	56,000	633,900
5.	Once in a Summer	11.30	334	54,800	200,100
6.	Solace	11.30	220	38,300	132,300
7.	Step Up	11.23	148	34,700	311,900
8.	Flushed Away	11.23	190	15,500	236,000
9.	The Devil Wears Prada	10.26	52	11,000	1,720,400
10.	Rainbow Song	11.30	41	8,700	8,700

(Source: Film2.0)