Korea Box Office: Admissions Increase Over 40% as Deliver Us from Evil Rules Weekend Frame

The South Korean box office saw a major boost over the weekend with the release of Deliver Us From Evil, the new action film directed by Hong Won-chan. Opening on 1,997 screens, the CJ Entertainment title grossed ₩12,545,542,500 Korean won from 1,389,520 admissions, capturing nearly 78% of the country’s box office over the three-day frame and boosting attendance by more than 40% over last weekend. That’s a higher debut than even the heavily anticipated Train to Busan sequel Peninsula, which opened to ₩11,063,600,320 from 1,225,474 admissions in mid-July. The total for Deliver Us From Evil stands at ₩17,798,923,24 from 2,025,040 admissions since opening on Wednesday.

Deliver Us From Evil topped last weekend’s champ Steel Rain 2, which plummeted in its sophomore frame with ₩1,762,142,070 from 203,615 admissions, a sheer 70% drop. The action film’s tally now stands at ₩12,722,564,390 from 1,542,389 admissions through the end of its second weekend. At this rate, Steel Rain 2 will fall far short of the first film’s final tally of ₩35,489,576,466 from 4,452,740 admissions, though of course comparisons are shaky given the curtailed nature of moviegoing in the pandemic. It’s worth noting that Korea’s coronavirus caseload remains relatively low, with just 14,626 confirmed cases and 305 deaths as of Monday (August 10).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoDI4vGGSFY

Also dropping sharply this weekend was Peninsula, which grossed ₩885,667,160 from 99,653 admissions to land in third place in its fourth frame. That’s a 67% drop from last weekend’s gross, bringing the zombie sequel’s total to a still solid ₩32,071,825,380 from 3,693,321 admissions. By comparison, Train to Busan grossed a massive ₩93,178,283,048 from 11,565,479 admissions, making it the highest-grossing film of 2016 in the country.

The Chinese-American animated comedy-fantasy Animal Crackers debuted in fourth place with a mild ₩430,529,150 from 52,647 admissions, bringing its tally to ₩612,744,330 from 77,023 admissions since opening on Wednesday.

The rest of the films in the Top 10 captured a less than one percent share of audience each. The re-release of Disney’s live-action Aladdin came in fifth with ₩109,743,140 from 14,180 admissions, while the newly re-released live-action Beauty and the Beast took seventh place with ₩59,447,940 from 8,951 admissions, bringing its cumulative gross in Korea to a healthy ₩42,227,493,639 from 5,152,436 admissions (including its original release in 2017).

Other films in the Top 10 included the animated Big Shark 3: Jelly Monster at No. 6, You as a Boy at No. 8, Disney-Pixar’s Onward at No. 9 and the Fox News comedy-drama Bombshell at No. 10.