2014.05.30 ~ 2014.06.01

Marvel's mutants hold strong for now…

Marvel's mutants secured a second straight week at the top over the weekend by adding another 834K (37.8%) to its cause. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" entered the chart on the 22^nd, where it managed to dislodgeKim Dae-woo's"Obsessed", and has since remained Korea's film of choice. Last week the film claimed 1.4M, but the wealth was spread more evenly this time around asKim Seong-hoon's"A Hard Day"and Angelina Jolie's latest "Maleficent" entered the fray and sapped some of its steam.

Kim Seong-hoon's second feature"A Hard Day"starsLee Seon-gyoonas a detective trying to cover up a dodgy car accident, but who then gets caught out and blackmailed by the only witness (Jo Jin-woong). The film shot to second with 538K (22.8%) over 645 screens and was followed by Disney's "Maleficent" in third with 431K (19%). These three ("X-Men","A Hard Day", and "Maleficent") together captured over 80% of the market share, leaving the rest to scramble for stubs as the competition heated up.

"Oculus", an American psychological horror that also came out last week, opened its Korean account with 136K (5.7%), followed byKim Dae-woo's"Obsessed"with 91K (4%). Kim, the writer/director behind the 2010 historical hit"The Servant", saw his third feature fall three places in light of the string of new releases that redirected filmgoers."Obsessed"starsSong Seung-heonandLim Ji-yeon, and has thus far accumulated 1.3M admissions ($10.5M).

In sixth came the Japanese animation "Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie", another new released that managed over 88K (3.4%), followed by Spike Jonze's comedy drama "Her". Last weekend "Her" occupied eighth with almost 50K, but its 47K effort here was enough to bump this critically acclaimed film up one place into seventh.Director Chang's"The Target"has enjoyed a consistent run thus far, but took a serious tumble over the past weekend as it fell from third to eighth.Director Chang's effort was released at the end of April and has thus far amassed over 2.8M admissions ($21.7M).

Audiences were excited to see what Wally Pfister had install for them with the sci-fi thriller "Transcendence", but despite its all-star cast and the contagious curiosity, the film stalled and the fad quickly faded. Last weekend 113K Koreans ventured to quench that buzz, but that handful of hopefuls was the height of it as Pfister's picture plummeted to ninth with just 8.8K (0.3%). And it looks likeLee Jae-gyoo's "The Fatal Encounter" may have finally run out of steam after gobbling up over 3.8M stubs ($29.2M) since it's release late April. Lee's historical drama added just 5K to its tally but currently stands as the third highest grossing Korean film of 2014.

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] 2014.05.23 ~ 2014.05.25

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2014.05.30 - 2014.06.01 (www.kobis.or.kr)

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