Korea Weekend Box Office - Dec. 29-Jan. 1

Okay, I was surprised. Really, really surprised. For a second weekend in a row, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM was the big winner in Korea, beating out 200 POUND BEAUTY and (incredibly, in my opinion) MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER 3. Considering how well some really terrible sequels have performed in Korea, and that most of the reviews for GANGSTER 3 were fairly positive, I thought this film would do great. But instead GANGSTER 3 opened only in third place.

MUSEUM, on the other hand, just kept steamrolling over the competition, actually doing better on the second Friday. Because I find the day-by-day breakdown rather interesting, let me show you how MUSEUM has done since it was released Dec. 20:

Dec. 20 - 48,500
Dec. 21 - 86,510

Dec. 22 - 129,500 (Friday)
Dec. 23 - 315,180
Dec. 24 - 389,940
Dec. 25 - 385,400
Dec. 26 - 115,250
Dec. 27 - 124,620
Dec. 28 - 126,050

Dec. 29 - 160,090 (Friday)
Dec. 30 - 315,310
Dec. 31 - 349,260
Jan. 1 - 326,120
------------------
Total - 2,871,750

At the rate it is going, it looks like NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM is going to become the most successful foreign comedy in Korean history. At the moment, I believe that title is held by SHREK 2, which had 3.3 million admissions. I certainly cannot think of anything that did any better... unless you include action films with comedy overtones, like MR. & MRS. SMITH.

In general, foreign comedies do not do nearly as well as action movies. The Austin Powers movies barely made a ripple here. (After all, how could you translate all those sex puns?) (Or why would you want to?). MEET THE FOCKERS did not do much. BRIDGET JONES DIARY 2 had 1.5 million admissions. DEVIL WEARS PRADA had something over 1.7 million. And? I cannot think of anything else. So congratulations to Bill Stiller, I guess. Or to person who thought of animating a dinosaur skeleton during the winter vacation. Or something like that.

200 POUND BEAUTY is still doing well, now nearing the 4-million-admissions mark. And I do not see anything slowing it down any time soon. Im Sang-soo's THE OLD GARDEN almost certainly will not be a big draw. The following week HERB might do well (Koreans do seem to love heartwarming stories about the mentally retarded/disabled), or Leonard DiCaprio's BLOOD DIAMOND. At any rate, it seems safe to say 200 POUND is going to top 5-million admissions before its run is done.

Funny to see CASINO ROYALE in another tie this week. And with a different film than last week.

Good to see SCIENCE OF SLEEP continuing to do well. We need more offbeat films that like doing well here.

This Week	Title........................................	Release Date	Screens Nationwide	Weekend Attendance (Seoul only)	Total Attendance
1.	Night at the Museum	12.21	363	213,600	2,871,800
2.	200-Pound Beauty	12.14	396	186,200	3,804,900
3.	My Wife Is a Gangster 3	12.28	420	110,700	872,200
4.	The Holiday	12.14	175	62,000	1,175,000
5.	The Restless	12.21	335	50,000	1,408,000
6.	Casino Royale	12.21	275	49,200	913,900
6. (tie)	Happy Feet	12.21	166	49,200	609,900
8.	Old Miss Diary	12.21	176	39,000	601,500
9.	The Science of Sleep	12.21	5	5,200	23,000
10.	Little Miss Sunshine	12.21	6	2,400	9,600

(Source: Film2.0)