After a three-week break, MAY 18 is back on top of the box office, proving to be the tortoise to D-WAR’s hare. Or something like that. Anyhow, CJ Entertainment’s big movie of the summer, about the Gwangju Massacre, has now pulled in 6.61 million admissions, or about $45 million.
D-WAR may be declining fast, but it is still raking in the money. As of the end of Sunday, it had topped 8 million admissions (or about $54 million). D-WAR is now the sixth-biggest film in Korean history and is a lock to pass FRIEND to become No. 5. But considering how quickly D-WAR is falling now (down by over 50% from last weekend, which was over 50% from the weekend before that), it looks like it will not make the magical 10 million admissions level.
Even better than last week, Korean films accounted for the entire top-5 and eight of the top-10 movies this week. Impressive.
Also impressive was the staying power of STARDUST. Despite a mediocre opening and plenty of competition, Neil Gaiman’s fairytale dropped barely 11% from its opening weekend. As I said in yesterday’s post, the Art Reon theater in Shinchon actually moved STARDUST from the smallest screen to the second-largest.
SIMPSONS – THE MOVIE had a less than impressive debut, with just over 140,000 admissions. At the screening I attended over the weekend, everyone seemed to enjoy the film a lot, and very few jokes got lost in translation.
| This Week | Title…………………………………….. | Release Date | Screens Nationwide | Weekend Attendance | Total Attendance |
| 1. | May 18 (Hwaryeohan Hyuga – Korean) | 7.26 | 336 | 326,319 | 6,229,145 |
| 2. | D-War (Korean) | 8.01 | 375 | 319,895 | 7,545,029 |
| 3. | Swindler in My Mom’s House (Sarangbang Seonsu-wa Eomeoni – Korean) | 8.22 | 345 | 232,569 | 318,690 |
| 4. | Underground Rendezvous (Mannam-ui Gwangjang – Korean) | 8.14 | 284 | 199,826 | 1,017,975 |
| 5. | Love Now (was “Changing Partners,” or Jigeum Saranghaneun Saram-gwa Salgo Isseumnikka? – Korean) | 8.14 | 297 | 162,143 | 785,354 |
| 6. | Stardust | 8.14 | 223 | 160,707 | 610,595 |
| 7. | Simpsons – The Movie | 8.23 | 202 | 109,334 | 138,584 |
| 8. | Someone Behind You (Du Saramida – Korean) | 8.23 | 232 | 105,360 | 154,980 |
| 9. | Jukeodo Haepiending – Korean | 8.23 | 206 | 86,986 | 113,798 |
| 10. | Return (Riteon- Korean) | 8.09 | 64 | 22,687 | 614,886 |
(Source: KOBIS – Figures represent 94% of nationwide box office)
You are saying that 8 out of 10 movies are Korean, well that’s not correct, that should be 8.5-ish
The Simpsons is partly made by Rough Draft Korea Co. Ltd.
Just look at all the Koreans are credited in the cast list
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808405878/cast
Well, by that logic, only eight of the movies are Korea. Minus 0.5 because D-WAR had so many non-Korean elements.
Actually, you could even say 7.5. D-WAR was so bad, I have a hard time even calling it a movie.
D-WAR might make some profit actually. The DVD sales will put them over the top — IF the cost was really US$35 million.
With television rights and DVD sales, it may happen that D-WAR — if the capital expense of making Younggu Art Studios is excluded — may turn a notional profit. And that means more dreck from that man.
> D-WAR might make some profit
> actually. The DVD sales will
> put them over the top
Hi Brendon, thanks for dropping by.
D-WAR might do okay, moneywise, but DVD sales in Korea will not be a big factor. Koreans just do not buy DVDs. Even THE HOST struggled to sell 30,000 copies. But D-WAR’s DVD sales in Japan and the United States could possibly make a difference.
I would be very interested to know how this deal was structured. I’m guessing that the distributor, Showbox, made sure their investment was recouped first.
Just the thought of Shim making another movie gives me a headache.
I have heard that this cost between 30-200 million. Is Showbox crediting the CGI that they had to create to make this film as a Showbox investment or will it billed to the film.
I keep reading next month, 1500 screens in USA. But, when checked with IMDB, it states a limited release.
So will Korea embrace the new HD DVD that are now being sold or will they ever let go of the VHS?