Totally anemic box office this past weekend. Call it the calm before the storm, as SPIDER-MAN 3 is set to be unleashed on Korea in just two hours from now (as of posting time, of course). With the unofficial holiday tomorrow, oodles of theaters around Seoul (and, I would presume, around Korea) will be launching the third webslinger film at 12:30 am.

My prediction? Certainly the film will top 1 million attendance on the Friday-to-Sunday cycle. But as for the week-long “weekend” opening… I would be willing to guess 1.7 million (around what RETURN OF THE KING and TAEGUKGI did). Maybe even 2 million. But I am pretty sure THE HOST’s 2.6 million record opening is safe.

PARADISE MURDERED was the No. 1 for the third week in a row, but it did so with just 80,100 tickets sold in Seoul (figure around $537,000). In nearly three weeks, PARADISE has made about $11.4 million.

SHOOTER (or DOUBLE TARGET as it is known in Korea) was the top new film, in the No. 2 spot. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (I am not about to call it TMNT) had a pretty weak opening, way down in sixth. MY TUTOR FRIEND 2 is definitely a big flop, with just 443,000 tickets sold in 10 days.

Outside of the top 10, Kim Ki-duk’s new film, BREATH, had a pretty tiny opening, with just 2,811 admissions (way down in 21st).

MEMORIES OF MATSUKO has now pulled in 15,765 admissions (and was in 19th last weekend). Not a runaway art-house hit, or a hit at all, I guess. But a reasonable success, which is pretty nice to see for such a quirky little film.

This Week Title…………………………………. Release Date Screens Nationwide Weekend Attendance (Seoul only) Total Attendance
1. Paradise Murdered 4.12 313 80,100 1,703,100
2. Shooter 4.26 149 54,000 191,000
3. The Reaping 4.19 127 57,900 439,100
4. Bunt 4.26 253 40,700 179,100
5. My Tutor Friend 2 4.19 242 33,000 443,000
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.26 243 19,700 76,000
7. Meet Mr. Daddy 4.19 233 13,400 264,900
8. The Show Must Go On 4.05 121 12,400 985,300
9. The Good Shepherd 4.19 81 10,000 86,000
10. Meet the Robinsons 4.19 97 7,000 78,400

(Source: Film2.0)