Local Films Command 80% of Sales

For the first time in 2021, the Korean box office was led by two domestic titles, who helped raise the local market share to 82%, the highest it’s been all year. Sales jumped up 30% week-on-week, with admissions reaching 1.22 million, just shy of the annual sales record posted last month when Black Widow opened.

Showbox’s disaster comedy Sinkhole debuted in theaters with 647,000 sales (USD 5.62 million) over the weekend and a cumulative total of 922,000 entries (USD 7.82 million) after five days in theaters. Though it should see plenty more business in the coming weeks, the market will be very competitive, and audience reactions have been somewhat mixed.

In its third weekend, Ryoo Seungwan’s acclaimed Escape from Mogadishu dropped just 32% as it clinched another 348,000 sales (USD 2.87 million). The film has now reached 2.32 million spectators (USD 19.18 million), by far the best total for a Korean film in 2021, and it may yet catch up to Black Widow’s year-best total of 2.94 million sales. 

The Ryan Reynolds action-comedy vehicle Free Guy opened in third place with 105,000 tickets (USD 939,000) sold over the weekend and a total of 157,000 seats (USD 1.38 million) filled since its Wednesday start.

DC Comics film The Suicide Squad crashed 77% after a disappointing opening, as it could only muster 38,000 admissions (USD 369,000) during its sophomore frame. The superhero film has accrued 382,000 sales (USD 3.45 million) to date.

Animation sequel Boss Baby: Family Business slowed 65% going into its fourth weekend, as it sold 27,000 tickets (USD 281,000). The film has brought in 894,000 viewers (USD 6.91 million) to date.

Both Sinkhole and Escape from Mogadishu are poised to do strong business this coming weekend, while box office superstar Hwang Jungmin is entering the marketplace with his latest film Hostage: Missing Celebrity, which is quickly catching up on the reservation chart as of early Monday morning.