Hope Korea box office streak continues as weekend total falls
Na Hong-jin’s Hope led South Korea with $5.5 million, while the overall weekend market dropped to $8.2 million.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
2 min read
The Hope Korea box office run stayed firmly in first place over the July 24 to 26 weekend, even as South Korean cinemas cooled sharply from the previous frame.
According to KOBIS, the box office tracking service run by the Korean Film Council, Na Hong-jin’s science-fiction thriller earned $5.5 million from 767,366 admissions across the three-day weekend. That gave the film 66.8% of total market revenue.
The big-budget title has now taken $25.3 million in South Korea from 3,415,707 admissions, KOBIS data showed, following its record-setting opening weekend.
How much did Hope make at the Korea box office?
Hope made $5.5 million over the July 24 to 26 weekend in South Korea, according to KOBIS. Its cumulative local total stands at $25.3 million from more than 3.4 million viewers.
Directed by Na Hong-jin, Hope stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The film follows a fight for survival in an isolated harbor town after residents find a mysterious alien presence on the edge of town.
Far behind in second place was Minions & Monsters, which collected $793,103 from 117,916 admissions. Since opening on July 15, the film has reached $3.9 million from 562,965 ticket buyers.
Disney’s live-action musical Moana landed third in its third weekend, adding $593,187 from 87,033 admissions. KOBIS lists its South Korean total at $6.6 million from 909,270 admissions.
Toy Story 5 placed fourth with $376,522 from 53,975 admissions. The animated sequel is close to the $20 million mark locally, with $19.8 million from 2,837,123 viewers since its mid-June release.
David, the faith-based animated film about the biblical shepherd who becomes king, rounded out the top five. It added $302,409 from 46,493 admissions, bringing its local total to $1.4 million from 220,351 viewers.
The Eyes, a local psychological thriller, finished sixth with $269,004 from 37,141 admissions. Directed by Yeom Ji-ho and starring Shin Min-ah and Kim Nam-hee, the Korean remake of the Spanish thriller Julia’s Eyes has earned $10.6 million from 1,511,619 admissions.
Japanese anime feature Dream Animals The Movie opened in seventh place with $92,720 from 15,300 admissions for the weekend. Directed by Hitoshi Takekiyo and based on Ginbis’s long-running animal biscuit brand, the film has made $148,892 from 24,404 viewers including previews.
Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s table tennis comedy-drama starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow, took eighth with $37,623. Its South Korean total is now $923,581.
Showbox’s action-horror title Colony, directed by Yeon Sang-ho and starring Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan and Ji Chang-wook, ranked ninth with $27,867. Since its May 21 rollout, it has grossed $42.6 million from 5,949,979 admissions.
Hokum completed the top 10, opening to $22,398 from 3,322 admissions over the weekend. Since its July 22 launch, the horror film has earned $50,203 from 7,972 viewers.
KOBIS reported total South Korean weekend box office revenue of $8.2 million, down from $17.1 million the prior weekend.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.