Korea Box Office: ‘IF’ and Other New Releases Make Little Impact as ‘The Roundup: Punishment’ Hits $75 Million

Patrick Frater


Local blockbuster, “The Roundup: Punishment” extended its dominance of the South Korea theatrical box office for a fourth weekend. That lifted its cumulative total to a powerful $75 million.

“Punishment,” the fourth part of a brutal action comedy film franchise produced by and starring Don Lee (aka Ma Dong-seok), earned $3.05 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). While the film’s week-on-week performance was a 46% decrease, “Punishment” still enjoyed a 36% share of the Korean theatrical market.

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After nearly four weeks on release, it has accumulated a total of $75.2 million from 10.7 million admissions. The year’s biggest title to date remains “Exhuma” with $84.8 million earned from 11.9 million ticket sales.

Those two films have dominated proceedings at the Korean box office this year and helped Korea stage a belated recovery in theatrical trends. Both March and April were recent records. So far this year, Korean-produced films have led the box office on 14 of 20 weekends.

Korean mystery thriller, “Following” was the latest weekend’s top performing new release title. It earned $1.72 million between Friday and Sunday and $2.76 million over its full five-day opening run.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” earned $1.17 million in its second weekend of release. That represented a 52% week-on-week decline. After 12 days in Korean cinemas, it has a cumulative total of $3.14 million.

In fourth place, Japanese animation “Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle” opened with $1.12 million for the weekend proper and $2.68 million over its five-day opening run.

“The Garfield Movie” took fifth place with $562,000 on the weekend. Over five days, it enjoyed $1.29 million of business.

“IF” opened in sixth place with $226,000 over the weekend and $493,000 over five days. In North America, it opened this weekend as the market leader, albeit with a performance considered “soft.”

Rereleased Japanese romantic drama “The Last 10 Years” scored $112,000 over the weekend. It now has a running total of $4.10 million.

Australian horror film “Late Night With the Devil” earned $98,000 for a running total of $546,000 after three weekends on release.

The rereleased “The Shawshank Redemption” earned $31,000 in ninth place. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $28,000 in tenth place over the weekend. Since release on April 10, it has accumulated $12.2 million, making it the fifth highest performing film in South Korea this year.

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