Korean Box Office Report - January 6/8

Feels good being right. No, I don't mean us, for picking Lee Joon-Ik's 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) as a possible sleeper hit of the Christmas Season, but the director himself. His pragmatic mentality of not wasting money and letting actors go full force paid off handsomely, as the Historical Dramedy has become the sensation of this year's Christmas/New Year holidays, beating much more prestigious contenders, like King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, Korean blockbusters 청연 (Blue Swallow) and 태풍 (Typhoon), and so far even the action comedy 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting). Quite an accomplishment for an unassuming film shot on a 'normal' budget (4.4 Billion + around 2 for marketing), and once again proof that good stories with good acting often sell more than big spectacles on the screen.

It's not the first time a complete underdog steals the hearts of Korean filmgoers, and it's the second time in a row Director Lee finds himself responsible for making a huge hit out of a 'small' film, as his Fusion Historical Drama 황산벌 (Once Upon a Time in the Battlefield) hit it big in 2003. But the best thing about the success of the film is that it was almost completely driven by word of mouth, which spread quickly from the first day of release (December 29), and allowed the film to gain screens instead of losing them like everyone else. With 369 screens nationwide, the film sold almost a Million tickets last week (276,000 in Seoul), for a total of over 2.8 Million, and it's expected it will reach at least the 4 Million tickets, an incredible result for a film with no real stars. But after this, they'll become stars, as Lee Joon-Gi, Jung Jin-Young and Gam Woo-Sung are on the mouth of everybody around Chungmuro now.

The only big new release of the week was Shin Han-Sol's 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting), starring Baek Yoon-Shik and Jae Hee. The comedy didn't receive great praise from the critics, but the charisma of Baek, along with an aggressive and very creative marketing campaign helped the film record a good opening weekend. Selling around 120,000 tickets in Seoul, the film has passed the half Million mark, and looks headed for a comfortable 1.5-2 Million run, another success for Baek Yoon-Shik. As expected, The Chronicles of Narnia wasn't able to hold up last week's top spot, and fell to No. 3. It had more or less the same screens as 'The King and The Clown' in Seoul, but sold less than half over the weekend (121,000 tickets), for a total of 1,750,000 tickets. It looks like the film won't have enough momentum to reach results of similar 'blockbuster series' like Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings, and should land somewhere around the 2.5 Million tickets by the end of its run. Peter Jackson's King Kong continues to do well, pushed by positive word of mouth. Selling around 90,000 tickets in Seoul, the film is getting closer to the 4 Million mark, which would be quite a good result for the film, considering its longer running time.

The sexy romantic comedy 작업의 정석 (The Art of Seduction) slowed down a little, but it's still doing pretty well. 57,000 tickets sold over the weekend in Seoul, for a total of over 2.1 Million tickets nationwide. The film has already reached its break even point, so selling anything more will just add to the pie. It's very likely the film will hit the 2.5 Million by next week, and its score after that depends on competition. Still, I don't think it will reach the 3 Million, as there's too many potential hits releasing over the next two weeks. An excellent result for the comedy, starring Son Ye-Jin and Song Il-Guk. Kwak Kyung-Taek's 태풍 (Typhoon) would be considered a success, if it weren't for its titanic 20 Billion Won budget, so the 4.1 Million tickets sold so far don't look that impressive, especially if you consider it's enjoying a very large release, despite adding very little (relatively) every week. It's pretty obvious the film will be pushed by its distributors until the break even point (set at 5 Million) is reached, but it's unlikely it'll move much after that. Can't really call it a disappointment, since it's still one of the most successful Korean films of all time, but when you spent THAT much, you also tend to expect results like those made by 실미도 (Silmido) and 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi). Kwak's post-친구 (Friend) curse at the box office continues.

But if I couldn't be happier about 'The King and The Clown' and its amazing run, it's very sad to see Yoon Jong-Chan's 청연 (Blue Swallow) fade away without making much of a mark. The film, showing the life of Korea's first civil female aviator Park Kyung-Won (played by Jang Jin-Young), sold 17,000 tickets in Seoul, for a nationwide total of 502,000. Although there's a chance it might be received well in Japan, the film flopped badly in Korea, a shame after such hard work by the director and stars. Of course a lot of the blame goes to those who raged a demagogic war against the film based on their political agenda, but by now people would have started ignoring that. Outside that, Peter Chan's 如果ㆍ愛 (Perhaps Love) had a hugely disappointing opening weekend, and the documentary about Yoon Band directed by Kim Tae-Yong just sold a few thousand tickets.

Next week will see the release of Kwon Sang-Woo and Yoo Ji-Tae's action noir 야수 (Running Wild). Reaction of the press hasn't been bad, but I don't think the film will have much of a problem making it big. Also on release the omnibus Drama 다섯 개의 시선 (If You Were Me 2), and Hollywood films In Her Shoes, The Alibi and the documentary Inside Deep Throat.

Korean Films Abroad

After weeks of no-shows, Kwak Kyung-Taek's latest blockbuster 태풍 (Typhoon) [Chinese Title 颱風 - Typhoon] 'saved' the day by landing 6th on the weekly HK box office charts. Its total intake so far is HK$ 500,000.

Box Office Top 9 - Weekend of January 6/8

1.

왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown)
2005 KOREA - dir. Lee Joon-Ik [Cast: Gam Woo-Sung, Jung Jin-Young]
Distributed By Cinema Service - 37.2% (+13.6%) Share - 3,493 Per Screen Avg. - 369 Screens (+65)
2,893,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

2.
싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting)
2006 KOREA - dir. Shin Han-Sol [Cast: Baek Yoon-Shik, Jae Hee]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - 17.9% (New) Share - 2,462 Per Screen Avg. - 280 Screens (New)
559,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

3.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
2005 USA - dir. Andrew Adamson [Cast: Tilda Swinton, Jim Broadbent]
Distributed By Disney - 16.4% (-7.3%) Share - 1,663 Per Screen Avg. - 268 Screens (-23)
1,754,744 Tickets Sold Nationwide

4.
King Kong
2005 NZ/US - dir. Peter Jackson [Cast: Jack Black, Naomi Watts]
Distributed By UIP - 12.1% (-2.9%) Share - 1,666 Per Screen Avg. - 234 Screens (-36)
3,708,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

5.
작업의 정석 (The Art of Seduction)
2005 KOREA - dir. Oh Gi-Hwan [Cast: Son Ye-Jin, Song Il-Guk]
Distributed By Showbox - 7.7% (-5.7%) Share - 1,167 Per Screen Avg. - 208 Screens (-101)
2,137,272 Tickets Sold Nationwide

6.
태풍 (Typhoon)
2005 KOREA - dir. Kwak Kyung-Taek [Cast: Jang Dong-Gun, Lee Jung-Jae]
Distributed By CJ Entertainment - 4.5% (-6.5%) Share - 809 Per Screen Avg. - 210 Screens (-100)
4,100,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

7.
如果ㆍ愛 (Perhaps Love)
2005 HONG KONG - dir. Peter Chan [Cast: Ji Jin-Hee, Kaneshiro Takeshi]
Distributed By Show East - 2.6% (New) Share - 121 Screens (New)

8.
청연 (Blue Swallow)
2005 KOREA - dir. Yoon Jong-Chan [Cast: Jang Jin-Young, Kim Ju-Hyeok]
Distributed By: Corea Pictures - 2.3% (-6.1%) Share - 443 Per Screen Avg. - 235 Screens (-72)
502,142 Tickets Sold Nationwide

9.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2005 UK/USA - dir. Mike Newell [Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Eric Sykes]
Distributed By Warner Brothers Korea - 1.4% (-3.0%) Share - 600 Per Screen Avg.
3,791,000 Tickets Sold Nationwide

2006 Box Office Top 1 (Korean Films)

01. 싸움의 기술 (The Art of Fighting) - 559,000

2005 Box Office Top 10 (Korean Films)

01. 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) - 8,002,594
02. 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2) - 5,663,000
03. 말아톤 (Marathon) - 5,179,154
04. 태풍 (Typhoon) - 4,100,000
05. 공공의 적 2 (Another Public Enemy) - 3,910,000
06. 친절한 금자씨 (Sympathy For Lady Vengeance) - 3,560,000
07. 너는 내 운명 (You Are My Sunshine) - 3,070,000
08. 마파도 (Mapado) - 3,020,000
09. 왕의 남자 (The King and The Clown) - 2,893,000
10. 내 생애 가장 아름다운 일주일 (All For Love) - 2,545,000

All Time Box Office Top 10 (Korean Films)

01. 태극기 휘날리며 (Taegukgi) - 11,746,135 [2004]
02. 실미도 (Silmido) - 11,074,000 [2003]
03. 친구 (Friend) - 8,180,000 [2001]
04. 웰컴 투 동막골 (Welcome To Dongmakgol) - 8,002,594 [2005]
05. 쉬리 (Shiri) - 6,210,000 [1999]
06. 공동경비구역 JSA (Joint Security Area) - 5,830,000 [2000]
07. 가문의 위기 (Marrying The Mafia 2) - 5,663,000 [2005]
08. 조폭 마누라 (My Wife is a Gangster) - 5,250,000 [2001]
09. 가문의 영광 (Marrying the Mafia) - 5,200,001 [2002]
10. 말아톤 (Marathon) - 5,179,154 [2005]

[Sources: Film2.0, nKino, Yonhap News, Mov3]