Korea Weekend Box Office - Sept. 5-7

Whoops. Forgot to click "Publish" after writing this post. It has been sitting on my browser for hours.

Anyhow, CJ Entertainment's historical drama THE DIVINE WEAPON was the top film in its opening weekend, taking in a respectable $4 million. Well, quasi-historical. The hwacha was a pretty interesting piece of military hardware that was cooked up in the 15th century. But it was not terribly effective on the battlefield. Personally, I was more impressed by those big wooden spike cannons that the Joseon armies used to use.

THE DIVINE WEAPON has now topped 1 million admissions, including the advanced screenings that were held last weekend. With Chuseok holiday weekend coming and no major competitors on their way, THE DIVINE WEAPON could end up a decent haul.

The screechy giggle-fest MAMMA MIA! also had a pretty decent opening (and, like THE DIVINE WEAPON, had many advanced screenings the previous weekend), with $3.5 million over the weekend to bring its total to $5.3 million. But I have ABBA bred in the bone, so I enjoyed it. Especially the encores at the end (Pierce Bronson's voice, not so much).

I was pleasantly surprised to see the documentary EARTH open in No. 4. Few documentaries do well in Korea these days, so it was nice to see do well. If you like that sort of thing, be sure to check out the EBS Documentary Film Festival, opening Sept. 22.

This Week	Title............................................	Release Date	Screens Nationwide	Weekend Revenue (bil. won)	Total Revenue (bil. won)
1.	The Divine Weapon (Singijeon - Korean)	9.04	667	4.15	6.56
2.	Mamma Mia!	9.04	516	3.68	5.49
3.	Dark Knight	8.07	333	0.92	26.07
4.	Earth	9.04	211	0.45	0.51
5.	Star Wars: The Clone Wars	9.04	261	0.31	0.34
6.	Wall-E	8.07	175	0.20	6.70
7.	Blood Bell (Gosa - Korean)	8.07	175	0.14	10.24
8.	An Eye for an Eye (Nunenuen Nun Ieneun I - Korean)	7.31	111	0.083	13.39
9.	The Good, the Bad, the Weird (Joheun Nom, Nappeun Nom, Isanghan Nom - Korean)	7.17	132	0.084	45.84
10.	Midnight Meat Train	8.14	84	0.053	1.94

(Source: KOBIS - Figures represent 98% of nationwide box office)