‘Chiikawa’ Devours 42.7% of Korean Box Office in Third Weekend

By Daniel Okafor

“Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” took 42.7% of South Korea's weekend ticket revenue, according to KOBIS, the tracking service run by the Korean Film Council. That's not a market share. That's an occupation.

The Toho-distributed anime feature grossed $2.8 million from 378,474 admissions across 1,181 screens over the Oct. 16–18 frame, its third weekend in release. Directed by Kei Oikawa and adapted from Nagano's popular manga, the film follows its small titular hero and companions to an island paradise, where they confront a mysterious aquatic legend. Since launching Sep. 30, it has earned $14 million from 1,828,909 admissions.

One film taking nearly half the market does things to the rest of the chart. The overall weekend gross fell to $6.7 million, down from $10.5 million the previous week.

Can 'The Assassin(s)' survive its own scandal?

Second place went to Hur Jin-ho's political crime thriller “The Assassin(s),” with $1 million from 140,017 admissions across 1,104 screens — a 15.5% share. The Hive Media Corp release reconstructs the August 15, 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee and stars Yu Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho as investigators probing inconsistencies in the official state inquiry.

The film's commercial run continues under fire. Conservative civic organizations and bereaved family groups have filed defamation complaints alleging historical distortion, over the film's suggestion of internal state culpability in the shooting that killed First Lady Yuk Young-soo. Protests have disrupted promotional appearances, and 19 local film industry guilds issued a joint statement defending cinematic expression.

None of it stopped the box office. “The Assassin(s)” crossed the three-million-ticket threshold, lifting its cumulative gross to $23.7 million from 3,249,174 admissions since its Sep. 23 rollout. Controversy, it turns out, sells tickets as reliably as reviewers.

What else filled the top ten?

CJ ENM's gambling crime drama “Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub” held third in its fourth weekend, earning $731,309 from 94,314 admissions across 789 screens for a 10.8% share. Directed by Choi Kook-hee and starring Byun Yo-han, Noh Jae-won and Ayaka Miyoshi, the fourth franchise installment has grossed $14.3 million from 1,911,190 viewers.

Christopher Nolan's “The Odyssey” (Universal) placed fourth in its eleventh weekend, drawing $580,011 from 52,439 admissions across 481 screens for 8.6%. Its Korean haul now stands at $104.1 million from 12,267,696 admissions since opening Aug. 5.

20th Century Studios' ocean survival thriller “Whalefall” debuted in fifth, earning $300,004 from 38,637 admissions across 621 screens for 4.4% of the market. Since its Oct. 14 rollout, it has accumulated $421,412 from 56,363 viewers.

The lower half of the chart:

• “Look Back” — Kore-eda Hirokazu's live-action manga drama took sixth in its second weekend with $194,574 from 24,614 admissions across 271 screens; cumulative $829,170 from 105,345 viewers.
• “Guardians of the Video Game” — Locus Animation's local feature, adapted from Gasfard's Naver webtoon about an elite game-world administrator demoted to managing a retro mobile game, opened seventh with $165,350 from 22,427 admissions across 566 screens; $295,340 from 42,647 admissions since Oct. 14.
• “Street Fighter” — Paramount and Legendary's live-action video game reboot debuted eighth with $122,148 from 16,813 admissions across 523 screens; $238,799 from 34,920 admissions since Oct. 14.
• “The Mouths” — Takashi Shimizu's Japanese supernatural chiller took ninth in its second weekend with $110,302 from 14,991 admissions across 245 screens; cumulative $569,462 from 77,114 viewers.
• “Reawakened Man” — Lotte Entertainment's action fantasy, starring Koo Kyo-hwan, rounded out the top ten with $73,714 from 10,211 admissions across 292 screens; total $2.4 million from 326,734 admissions.

The coming weeks will test whether “Chiikawa” can convert dominance into longevity, and whether “The Assassin(s)” can keep banking on outrage as its free marketing campaign.