2017.01.27 - 2017.01.29

Local buddy cop film gains momentum to overthrow"The King"...

Kim Seong-hoon-III's"Confidential Assignment"(formally known as "Cooperation") received a screen boost for its second weekend out that helped bump it up one place to pole position. Last weekend, Kim's sophomore film – after"My Little Hero"(2006) – entered in second with 845,971 admissions (27.2%) from 976 screens behind"The King"'s 1.3 million admissions (42.85%); in week two,"Confidential Assignment"(starringHyeon BinandYoo Hae-jin) had 1,379 screens from which to pool and added another 1,9 million (46.1%), moving its total tally now to 3.77 million ($26.57 million).

"The King", by directorHan Jae-rim, whose previous films include"The Face Reader"(2013),"The Show Must Go on"(2006) and "Rules of Dating" (2005), captured 30% of the sales (1.23 million admissions), maintaining a slight led on Kim's latest in terms of total admissions. Since its release on January 18, and with this past weekend's figures added,"The King"has grossed $26.9 million (3.82 million admissions). This weekend's number one and two captured just over 76% of the sales; they are also the two highest-grossing local films of the year so far.

Disney's 56th animated feature, "Moana", by directors Ron Clements and John Musker, remained in third place with 298,447 admissions (6.96%). This is "Moana"'s third weekend out in Korea, and so far this 3D fantasy has banked $11.59 million; worldwide, the film's grossed a little over half a billion ($512 million). Next up was the highest new arrival: the final installment of the popular "Resident Evil" series of films, "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter". It arrived on Wednesday to 585 screens nationwide and claimed 6.54% of the sales (259,531 admissions), followed by the highest-grossing Japanese anime of all time: Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name".

"Your Name" was released in Japan mid-2016, but international audiences have only recently discovered what has become Japan's most successful anime to date. The film hit Korean screens January 4, and with the 153,794 admissions (3.63%) it claimed over the weekend, "Your Name" has movie its bottom line in Korea to $23.24 million (3.36 million admissions). "Your Name" surpassed Japan's previous champion, "Spirited Away" ($289 million), two weeks ago; currently, "Your Name"'s worldwide gross sits at $331 million.

Damien Chazelle's critically acclaimed "La La Land" (starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone) was unmoved in sixth with 57,687 admissions (1.4%), followed by a local animation byHong Heon-pyo,"Turning Mecard W: The Revival of Black Mirror". Hong's 72-minute animation slipped two places to seventh with the 52,271 admissions (0.9%) it claimed over its second weekend out, moving its total tally now to 362,789 ($2.3 million). The second Japanese anime to feature in Korea's top ten was "Crayon Shinchan 2016 Theatrical Film: Bakusui Yumemmy World Daitotsugeki" (Crayon Shin-chan the Movie Fast Asleep! The Great Assault on the Dreaming World), a new release; it claimed 42,582 admissions from 334 screens.

Peter Berg's "Deepwater Horizon", a biopic based on the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, was the final new film to feature in Korea's top ten. From just 400 screens, "Deepwater Horizon" captured just under a percent of the weekend sales (39,563 admissions). The final spot went to last weekend's number seven "Allied" (starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard) by director Robert Zemeckis. Zemeckis' WWII romantic thriller added 7,360 admissions from 118 screens to bring its new total now to 13,319 ($91,583). The film took an estimated $85 million to produce and has grossed $109.1 million worldwide since being released in American late November.

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2017.01.27 - 2017.01.29(www.kobis.or.kr)

- Chris Wheeler