Okay, I was surprised. Really, really surprised. For a second weekend in a row, NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM was the big winner in Korea, beating out 200 POUND BEAUTY and (incredibly, in my opinion) MY WIFE IS A GANGSTER 3. Considering how well some really terrible sequels have performed in Korea, and that most of the reviews for GANGSTER 3 were fairly positive, I thought this film would do great. But instead GANGSTER 3 opened only in third place.
MUSEUM, on the other hand, just kept steamrolling over the competition, actually doing better on the second Friday. Because I find the day-by-day breakdown rather interesting, let me show you how MUSEUM has done since it was released Dec. 20:
Dec. 20 – 48,500
Dec. 21 – 86,510
Dec. 22 – 129,500 (Friday)
Dec. 23 – 315,180
Dec. 24 – 389,940
Dec. 25 – 385,400
Dec. 26 – 115,250
Dec. 27 – 124,620
Dec. 28 – 126,050
Dec. 29 – 160,090 (Friday)
Dec. 30 – 315,310
Dec. 31 – 349,260
Jan. 1 – 326,120
——————
Total – 2,871,750
At the rate it is going, it looks like NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM is going to become the most successful foreign comedy in Korean history. At the moment, I believe that title is held by SHREK 2, which had 3.3 million admissions. I certainly cannot think of anything that did any better… unless you include action films with comedy overtones, like MR. & MRS. SMITH.
In general, foreign comedies do not do nearly as well as action movies. The Austin Powers movies barely made a ripple here. (After all, how could you translate all those sex puns?) (Or why would you want to?). MEET THE FOCKERS did not do much. BRIDGET JONES DIARY 2 had 1.5 million admissions. DEVIL WEARS PRADA had something over 1.7 million. And? I cannot think of anything else. So congratulations to Bill Stiller, I guess. Or to person who thought of animating a dinosaur skeleton during the winter vacation. Or something like that.
200 POUND BEAUTY is still doing well, now nearing the 4-million-admissions mark. And I do not see anything slowing it down any time soon. Im Sang-soo’s THE OLD GARDEN almost certainly will not be a big draw. The following week HERB might do well (Koreans do seem to love heartwarming stories about the mentally retarded/disabled), or Leonard DiCaprio’s BLOOD DIAMOND. At any rate, it seems safe to say 200 POUND is going to top 5-million admissions before its run is done.
Funny to see CASINO ROYALE in another tie this week. And with a different film than last week.
Good to see SCIENCE OF SLEEP continuing to do well. We need more offbeat films that like doing well here.
This Week | Title…………………………………. | Release Date | Screens Nationwide | Weekend Attendance (Seoul only) | Total Attendance | 1. | Night at the Museum | 12.21 | 363 | 213,600 | 2,871,800 | 2. | 200-Pound Beauty | 12.14 | 396 | 186,200 | 3,804,900 | 3. | My Wife Is a Gangster 3 | 12.28 | 420 | 110,700 | 872,200 | 4. | The Holiday | 12.14 | 175 | 62,000 | 1,175,000 | 5. | The Restless | 12.21 | 335 | 50,000 | 1,408,000 | 6. | Casino Royale | 12.21 | 275 | 49,200 | 913,900 | 6. (tie) | Happy Feet | 12.21 | 166 | 49,200 | 609,900 | 8. | Old Miss Diary | 12.21 | 176 | 39,000 | 601,500 | 9. | The Science of Sleep | 12.21 | 5 | 5,200 | 23,000 | 10. | Little Miss Sunshine | 12.21 | 6 | 2,400 | 9,600 |
(Source: Film2.0)
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