“Historical Thriller Harbin Tops Korea Box Office for Third Weekend, Captures 38% of Sales”

Harbin, the historical thriller directed by Woo Min-ho, continued to dominate the Korean box office during its third weekend, adding an additional $2 million from January 10-12. This brings the film’s cumulative earnings to an impressive $27.1 million, with 4.1 million admissions since its release on December 24, according to the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service, Kobis.

The film has also garnered significant international attention, with South Korean entertainment company CJ ENM recently announcing that Harbin has been sold to 117 countries, further extending its global reach.

Despite the strong performance of Harbin, the overall Korean box office saw a downturn over the weekend, with ticket sales down 37% compared to the same period last year.

Maintaining its second-place position at the Korean box office, Firefighters earned $582,000 over the weekend, bringing its total gross to $23 million. The film, based on the tragic 2001 Hongje-dong arson fire, had previously pledged to donate a portion of each ticket sale to the construction of the National Fire Hospital. Due to its unexpected box office success, the estimated donation has reached around $300,000.

In third place was the debut of Forbidden Fairytale, a sex comedy that earned $420,000. The film stars Park Ji-hyun (from Hidden Face) as a children’s book author who, after an unexpected twist of fate, transitions into writing adult fiction. The movie is distributed by Barunson E&A.

Sonıc The Hedgehog 3, now in its second weekend, placed fourth with $337,000 in weekend earnings. The animated sequel’s total earnings have reached $1.7 million, putting it on track to surpass the takings of its 2023 prequel, which grossed $1.96 million.

Pororo: Underwater Adventure, the latest local animation, held firm in fifth place with $334,000 in earnings. In its second weekend, the beloved family franchise installment has grossed $1.6 million to date. Previous releases in the Pororo series, including Pororo: Dragon Castle Adventure ($3 million in 2022) and Pororo Popstar Adventure ($2.5 million in 2023), have enjoyed similar success.

The noir thriller Bogota: City of the Lost secured the sixth spot with $221,000. Premiering at Busan in October, the film stars Song Joong-ki (known for Hopeless) as a young man navigating Bogota’s black market economy. Since its release on December 31, the film has earned $2.5 million.

In seventh place, the Japanese anime Crayon Shin-Chan: Our Dinosaur Story added $209,000 to its earnings, bringing its cumulative total to $4.5 million.

In eighth place, Jon M. Chu’s musical adaptation Wicked earned $208,000 over the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to $14.5 million.

Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King claimed ninth, adding $201,000 to its total earnings, which now stand at $5.4 million. The 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King earned $28 million at the Korean box office.

Moana 2, the latest Disney animation, followed in tenth place with $159,000, bringing its total box office earnings to $21.9 million. The sequel has outperformed the original Moana, which grossed $12 million in 2017.

Courtesy: 머스트잇

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