Korean Box Office: ‘Invisible Man’ Tops Virus-Hit Weekend, ‘1917’ Remains in Second

Sonia Kil
·2 min read

Click here to read the full article.

The Korean box office hit rock bottom this weekend due to coronavirus that is fast spreading in the country. According to KOBIS, the box-office tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the country’s box office managed some 230,803 ticket sales between Saturday and Sunday. That is lower than the previous weekend’s 285,663 admissions and is not even half the sales managed over the weekend before that.

In the much weakened box office, “The Invisible Man,” “1917” and “Beasts Clawing at Straws” remained in the top spots. UPI’s horror flick “Invisible Man” earned $651,600 from 85,171 admissions between Friday and Sunday for a total of $2.28 million from 314,600 admissions after two weekends on release. War drama “1917” added $490,000 from 60,600 admissions over the weekend to extend its three-weekend total of $4.13 million from 538,700 admissions. Megabox’s Korean crime thriller “Beasts” earned $233,200 from 30,400 admissions over the same period and extended its total to $4.1 million from 568,300 after three weekends. The top three films together accounted for 62.2% of the country’s total weekend box office revenue.

More from Variety

American drama “Little Women” and homegrown comedy “Honest Candidate” swapped places and took fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Sony’s “Little Women” earned $141,000 between Friday and Sunday for a total of $5.7 million after four weekends. Released by Next Entertainment World, “Honest Candidate” earned $131,700 over the weekend. It has accumulated a total of $10.36 million since its Feb. 12 release.

The only newcomers of the weekend, “Brahms: The Boy II” and “The Wolf’s Call” opened on Thursday (March 5) and took sixth and seventh places, respectively. American horror “Brahms” earned $110,700 over its opening four days, including $81,200 earned over the weekend. French action thriller “Wolf’s Call” earned $97,300 between Thursday and Sunday including $81,200 earned over the weekend.

As a part of local exhibitors and distributors’ effort to fill up the slots left out due to postponements of major films’ release dates, old films were re-released. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “About Time” earned $75,300 and $37,200 between Friday and Sunday, respectively, and landed in ninth and tenth places.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.