Romulus’ Grabs Opening Weekend Win

“Alien: Romulus” emerged on top of the South Korean box office on a weekend with five new-release titles in the top ten chart.

The U.S. horror-thriller franchise film earned $3.47 million between Friday and Sunday, with a 28% market share, data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic) showed. Over its full five-day opening “Alien Romulus” earned $5.46 million.

Those figures were enough to push “Pilot,” the Korean comedy-drama film that had topped the box office for the past two weeks, into second position. And the generous crop of newcomers lifted the nationwide weekend box office aggregate to $12.4 million.

Incurring a 45% week-on-week loss of altitude, “Pilot” earned $2.73 million over the latest weekend, giving it a three-weekend cumulative of $26.7 million. That is the fourth highest total by any film In Korea so far this year and relegates “Wonka” to 2024’s fifth position.

Korean-produced new release film “Land of Happiness” opened in third place with a $1.57 million weekend. Over five days, it earned $3.12 million. The film is the latest cinema examination of Korea’s political turmoil in the late 1970s, the same ground as was explored by last year’s number one film “12.12: The Day.”

“Twisters” was the weekend’s third-ranked new release. It scored a modest $1.61 million and 9.3% market share between Friday and Sunday. It has a cumulative of $2.17 million from its five-day opening run and preview screenings from a week earlier.

Korean animation film “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” slipped from second place on its debut to fifth over the latest weekend. It earned $854,000 for a 12-day cumulative total of $4.52 million.

“Victory,” a Korean-made comedy drama about cheerleading that premiered last month at the New York Asian Film Festival, opened in sixth place. It earned $636,000 over the weekend and $1.36 million over five days.

Concert film “Seventeen Tour ‘Follow’ Again to Cinemas” opened in seventh place, as measured by its $339,000 weekend gross receipts. Local charts, which rank performance by admission numbers instead, show it in tenth spot. It now has $843,000 to its credit, earned from 45,000 K-pop fans.

“Despicable Me” earned $300,000 in eight place over the latest weekend. Its four-weekend cumulative has reached $10.2 million, making it the 14th biggest film in Korea so far this year.

“Inside Out 2,” riding high as the top import film of the year and third overall in Korea, added a further $195,000 increment. Since releasing on June 12, it has accumulated $62.6 million.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” appears much more short-lived. It earned $188,000 over the latest weekend and has a cumulative of $15.0 million since releasing on July 24 (the same day as “Despicable Me 4”).