2014.04.11 ~ 2014.04.13

"The Winter Soldier" stands his ground…

Marvel's second instalment of their "Captain America" series came out again on top this past weekend, pulling in additional 470,782 admissions (33.6%) to advance its total tally now to 3.3M. "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" landed in Korea late March and has since remained the country's film of choice; an impressive feat given the continuous shuffling we've see at the box office this year. Globally, the film has amassed a monstrous $476M thus far and has been praised/enjoy by critics and fans alike.

Since the "Captain" strode into power local films have struggle for representation. Last week "Elegant Lies" and"Mr. Perfect"grappled for placement in fourth and ninth respectfully, but were both ejected here in favour of two new local entries in the form of"Broken"and "Innocent Things".Lee Jeong-ho's new crime thriller"Broken"(starringJeong Jae-yeongandLee Sung-min) received a warm welcome and managed silver with 383K (27.3%). Lee was involved in a number of productions before he made his directorial debut"Bestseller": a disappointing mystery thriller starringUhm Jung-hwathat scrapped in just over a million admissions back in 2010. Lee's second bite at the apple, however, opened its account with a promising flourish of interest, but we'll have to wait until next week to see if this initial interest is more than simply a lack of home-grown options.

Renny Harlin's "The Legend of Hercules" (130,509-8.8%) and the biblical epic "Son of God" (104 664-6.8%) followed in third and fourth, whileKim Tae-gyoon's "Innocent Things" occupied fifth with 71,103 admissions (4.9%). "Innocent Things", Kim's seventh feature, is a suspenseful melodrama starring theJang Hyeok("The Flu") and young drama actressJo Bo-ahthat paints a scandalous portrait of confessed love and lust across a questionable age gap. The comedy drama "The Grand Budapest Hotel" fell just the one place to sixth with 67,393 (4.9%); a modest haul but one that did bumped Wes Anderson's highest-grossing feature past the 500K mark in week three.

The French animation "Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants" (an adaptation of popular television series by writers-directors Thomas Szabo and Helen Giraud) hit Korea theatres last Thursday and managed to attract 50,891 (3.1%) to its cause, while McG's action thriller "3 Days to Kill", starring Kevin Costner, tumbled from second to eighth with just 29K (1.9%). McG's latest was not the only film to march towards the wrong end of the chart, as Peter Berg's war film "Lone Survivor" also took a placement hit. Last weekend the film claimed 78K and sixth, but cleared just 25,666 admissions (1.7%) for ninth place in its second weekend out. Lastly, the Japanese animation "Crayon Shin-chan: Baka-uma! B-kyu Gourmet Survival!!" pulled in 25,448 stubs, a soft score that nudged its total tally in Korea to 75K.

What's coming out next week in Korea?[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...

Last weekend's report:[HanCinema's Box Office Review] 2014.04.04 ~ 2014.04.06

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.04.11 - 2014.04.13 (www.kobis.or.kr)

- C.J. Wheeler ([email protected]; @KoreaOnTheCouch)