Korea Box Office: ‘John Wick 4’ Maintains Lead on Slowest Weekend of the Year

Patrick Frater

The South Korean cinema box office fell to its lowest level of the year over the latest weekend. Nationwide theatrical earnings in a territory which before COVID was the world’s fourth largest were barely over $6 million.

“John Wick: Chapter 4” lead the weekend chart from Japanese anime “Suzume” and Korean sports drama “Rebound” in a top three repeat from a week earlier.

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“John Wick 4” earned $2.51 million in its second weekend of release, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was a 38% week-on-week decline and represented a 41% share of the total Korean box office market. It also gave the film a cumulative total of $9.73 million since release on April 12.

“Suzume,” released on March 8, enjoyed a 20% market share and earned $1.24 million over the weekend. That lifted its cumulative to $38.1 million, extending its lead as the highest grossing film of the current year.

“Rebound” dropped 42% in its third week of release. Its $528,000 weekend score took its 19-day cumulative to $4.34 million.

The highest-placed new release of the weekend was “Ghost Station,” a Japan-Korea production that earned $435,000 between Friday and Sunday and $612,000 over its five opening days.
Nicolas Cage-starring “Renfield” opened in seventh place with $142,000 over the weekend and $289,000 over its opening five days.

In a possible sign of better things to come, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” earned $137,000 from previews. Its official release is set for Wednesday, some two weeks later than in many other territories.

The box office total over the latest weekend was just $6.09 million, the second weekend in April that the industry has plumbed new depths. Post-COVID, it appears to be difficult to persuade Korean consumers to watch films in cinemas. But that is creating a vicious cycle. As audiences stay away, distributors of Korean-made films are becoming increasingly reluctant to commit to theatrical releases and dates.

One of the minor consequences of the Korean theatrical slowdown and shortage of new titles has been a steady stream of re-releases. A week earlier, 2017 film “The Greatest Showman” took tenth spot in the Korean chart. Over the latest weekend, 2010 film “Inception” took ninth place with a handy $120,000.

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