'Chiikawa' Edges Out 'The Assassin(s)' by 215 Tickets in Korea

Japanese animated fantasy "Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island" topped the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 9–11, beating local political thriller "The Assassin(s)" by a margin of just 215 tickets.

According to KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Toho-distributed anime earned $3.13 million from 407,895 admissions across 1,067 screens, claiming 29.7% of the weekend market. Since opening wide on Sep. 30, it has accumulated $9.9 million from 1,281,485 admissions.

Director Kei Oikawa adapted the film from Nagano's popular manga. The story follows the titular character and companions on a remote island retreat, where they uncover a supernatural peril.

Hur Jin-ho's "The Assassin(s)" fell to second place with $3.03 million from 407,680 admissions across 1,312 screens, a 28.78% market share. Distributed by Hive Media Corp, the period crime drama reconstructs the August 15, 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee. Yu Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho play figures probing contradictions in the state's official inquiry.

How did controversy affect the film?

The film's resilience at the box office comes despite intense political blowback and legal challenges. Conservative civic groups, lawmakers and bereaved family members have accused the production of historical distortion and filed defamation complaints over its suggestion that internal government forces may have orchestrated the shooting that killed First Lady Yuk Young-soo.

The controversy triggered protests outside lead actor Yu Hae-jin's private residence and forced cast members to withdraw from promotional appearances at the Busan International Film Festival. In response, a coalition of 19 Korean film guilds issued a joint statement defending cinematic freedom of expression.

Since launching on Sep. 23, "The Assassin(s)" has amassed $21.8 million from 2,992,543 viewers, placing it on the verge of the three-million-ticket milestone.

What else filled the top ten?

• Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub (CJ ENM) held third in its third weekend with $1.4 million from 190,080 admissions across 949 screens, a 13.97% share. Director Choi Kook-hee's gambling crime drama, starring Byun Yo-han, Noh Jae-won and Ayaka Miyoshi, has grossed $13.1 million from 1,744,160 admissions since Sep. 23.
• The Odyssey (Universal) placed fourth in its tenth weekend with $979,402 from 95,215 admissions across 597 screens, taking 9.2% of receipts. Christopher Nolan's epic has now grossed $103.1 million from 12.1 million admissions in South Korea — the highest total for an international release in Korean box office history.
• Reawakened Man (Lotte Entertainment) took fifth in its second weekend with $398,045 from 49,345 admissions across 623 screens. Baek Seung-ryong's webtoon adaptation, starring Koo Kyo-han as a man who resurrects three days after each death, has reached $2.2 million from 302,355 admissions.
• Look Back, Hirokazu Kore-eda's live-action adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto's coming-of-age one-shot manga, opened sixth with $339,468 from 41,423 admissions across 338 screens. Counting previews before its Oct. 8 release, the Venice competition title has grossed $498,804 from 62,383 admissions.
• The Mouths, Takashi Shimizu's cemetery-curse thriller starring Rihito Itagaki and Ai Yoshikawa, debuted seventh with $256,120 from 33,271 admissions across 544 screens; its cume stands at $377,563 since its Oct. 7 rollout.
• Obsession (Focus Features), written and directed by Curry Barker, placed eighth in its sixth frame with $147,967 from 17,363 admissions, lifting its gross to $7.6 million from 955,136 admissions.
• Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu's satirical black comedy starring Tom Cruise, took ninth with $131,473 from 16,800 admissions; its cumulative total is $557,590 from 70,497 admissions.
• Avengers: Endgame Encore (Marvel Studios) rounded out the top ten with $113,467 from 13,060 admissions across 66 screens, bringing its total to $1.5 million from 173,356 admissions.

The overall market gross for the weekend was $10.5 million, down from $12.6 million the previous week. Whether "The Assassin(s)" crosses the three-million-admission threshold in the coming days will test whether controversy continues to fuel, rather than suppress, its commercial run.