AVATAR Drops Out of First — But Still Eyeing the Record

AVATAR finally slipped out of first place in Korea last weekend (coincidentally the same weekend it dropped out of first in the United States, too). It dropped all the way to third, behind two Korean titles, SECRET REUNION (Uihyeongje) and HARMONY.

But AVATAR is hardly out of gas. It still pulled in over 365,000 admissions, or nearly 4 billion won. That brings James Cameron’s blockbuster up to 11.9 million admissions in Korea. Could it make it to 13 million admissions, beating THE HOST? Possible, although difficult. I guess it depends how much of the Seollal bump it gets, and how much goes to newer movies. Regardless, the film’s 108 billion won ($92 million) is by far a record for box office revenue.

With AVATAR’s dominance in January, Korean movies have had a tough start to the year, taking in just 44 percent of the box office so far. But they should get a good lift this weekend, thanks to the Lunar New Year.

(All stats courtesy of KOBIS, as usual).