2016.04.22 ~ 2016.04.24

"Time Renegades"stays put at the top...

kwak Jae-Yong's thriller"Time Renegades", starringIm Soo-jeong,Jo Jeong-seokandLee Jin-wook, retained pole position over the last weekend despite a slight drop in its dominance from 29% to 25%. Last weekend Kwak's film entered the fray and attracted 336 thousand to its screens (733); its second weekend out, however, saw that figure slip to 239 thousand, moving its total tally now to just under a million admissions ($6.7 million).

That slight dip in admissions allowed popular films that were already on circuit to continue to find supporters, most notably "Zootopia" which climbed two places to settle in second place. "Zootopia" was released in Korea mid-February to a relatively timid reception, but after the film's American release it gained popularity and is still thriving. Disney's latest hit added another 148.7 thousand to bring its new total now to 4.4 million in Korea alone ($30.3 million); worldwide, "Zootopia" has grossed over $907 million.

There were three new films that managed to make the country's top ten:Nam Dae-joong's"The Last Ride", "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension", and "Triple 9"."The Last Ride"(starringRyoo Deok-hwan,Kim Dong-yeongandAhn Jae-hong) was the most successful of these new releases, claiming third place with 135 thousand admissions (15%) across 523 screens. It follows a group of three of friends who comically band together to make on of their last wishes comes true.Lee Cheol-ha's mystery thriller was next;"Insane"opened its account at the beginning of April when occupied first place, then second, and now fourth. The film added 106 thousand over the weekend bringing its total tally now to 992 thousand.

Park Heung-sik's period piece"Love, Lies"remained unmoved in fifth place with 80 thousand coming out in support, followed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan's "The Huntsman: Winter's War" (aka "he Snow White Chronicles - The Huntsman: Winter's War"). Nicolas-Troyan's film is a prequel/sequel to the popular 2012 film "Snow White and the Huntsman" and it opened its Korean account positively last weekend in third place with 169 thousand admissions (14.4%); this weekend, however, interest dwindled as it fell three places with just 69.9 thousand (7.1%) to show. "The Huntsman: Winter's War" marked the admissions watershed as the next film, "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension", struggled to find firm footing and grabbed just 32.6 thousand admissions (3.5%).

For the past two weeks the re-release of Roberto Benigni's 1997 hit "Life is Beautiful" has featured fairly in Korea's top ten. Last weekend it occupied ninth place with 18.6 thousand and was able to improve on that sum with an increase to 28.3 thousand admissions (2.4%). The last of the new releases, John Hillcoat's crime thriller "Triple 9", claimed 22.4 thousand across 324 screens (which was less than half of "Life of Beautiful"), followed by a Japanese from the early 2000s: Isamu Nakae's "Between Calmness and Passion". The film had 119 screens from which to pool and from the attracted 15.9 thousand (1.6%) to round out the weekend's top performers.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2016.04.22 - 2016.04.24 (www.kobis.or.kr)

-Chris Wheeler