Lots of interesting things going on at the Korean boxoffice last week. The top film, LE GRAND CHEF, actually increased its weekend haul, rising 15% from last weekend. You do not see that happen very often. After 10 days, CHEF has made about $9 million.

In No. 2 was Ang Lee’s LUST, CAUTION, which I think is pretty good for a 2 1/2 hour sexual thriller. In just three days, LUST made about $1.9 million. In the United States, the film has needed 45 days to make just $3.7 million.

In third, GOING BY THE BOOK has now topped 2 million admissions, which is generally considered a solid outing.

Fuji-TV’s HERO is now up to 224,000 admissions. Not great, but not bad.

Finally, the No. 9 film, SEVEN DAYS, is pretty interesting this week, as the film has not even been released yet. At least not officially. But already it has pulled in 30,000 admissions before it even hits the screens. Not sure how I feel about this. After all, 30,000 admissions will not make a big difference to its overall admissions count, so it is not like the distributor is trying to boost its numbers. But, still, it does look odd.

Anyhow, congratulations to SEVEN DAYS, for being the latest Korean film to get the Hollywood remake treatment. Summit Entertainment apparently is planning on making a $30 million remake in the next year or so.

This Week Title…………………………………….. Release Date Screens Nationwide Weekend Attendance Total Attendance
1. Le Grand Chef (Sikkaek – Korean) 11.01 412 507,151 1,290,330
2. Lust, Caution 11.08 298 226,722 269,423
3. Going by the Book (Bareuge Salja – Korean) 10.18 279 182,769 1,981,630
4. The Butterfly 11.08 242 93,427 124,833
5. Lost Lines 11.08 205 85,153 100,003
6. Hero (Japan) 10.25 239 49,415 223,979
7. Shadows in the Palace (Gungneo – Korean) 10.18 249 46,822 1,349,965
8. Kingdom 11.01 173 44,029 224,410
9. Seven Days (Korean) 11.14 (!) 50 15,008 29,843
10. Black Dahlia 11.01 196 13,892 120,080

(Source: KOBIS – Figures represent 97% of nationwide box office)

Btw, what is up with international boxoffice reports that have two films from India leading this past weekend? According to the trades, OM SHANTI OM made about $17 million, while SAAWARIYA came second with $14.4 million.

My problem with these reports? I cannot find a weekend ever when the entire top-10 of the Indian boxoffice earned even $12 million. Ever. And now two films alone have pulled in $30 million? Seems very unlikely. I suspect someone is playing games with their numbers.