HOSTAGE: MISSING CELEBRITY Leads the Way as Local Films Command the Market 

Major local releases continued to lead the way at the summer box office as the Korean industry claimed 87% of sales over the past weekend. Admissions also remained high relative to the rest of the year, down a fraction from last weekend’s total with 1.16 million sales counted.

Box office titan Hwang Jungmin returned to the top of the charts one year after DELIVER US FROM EVIL with the new action-thriller Hostage: Missing Celebrity. A remake of the Chinese film Saving Mr. Wu, and the second film from Ryoo Seungwan’s production company Filmmaker R & K this summer, the Pil Gamsung debut opened with 454,000 sales (USD 3.92 million) over the weekend, with a total to 639,000 entries (USD 5.4 million) recorded over its first five days in theaters.

Last week’s champ, the disaster comedy Sinkhole, fell 50%, welcoming 327,000 viewers (USD 2.77 million) during its sophomore weekend. To date, the film has brought in 1.66 million spectators (USD 13.88 million).

Ryoo Seungwan’s Escape from Mogadishu remained a threat on the charts, slowing just 36% as it sold 222,000 tickets (USD 1.18 million) over the course of its fourth weekend. After just under a month on the charts, the film has accumulated 2.78 million admissions (USD 22.86 million) and is hot on the tail of the year’s biggest hit Black Widow, which has sold just under three million tickets.

Opening in fourth place was M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film Old, which filled 52,000 seats (USD 448,000) over the weekend, with 85,000 sales (USD 714,000) counted over its first five days.

Last week’s new Hollywood entry Free Guy was down 66%, selling 36,000 tickets (USD 311,000) in fifth place. To date, the Ryan Reynolds vehicle has brought in 252,000 viewers (USD 2.18 million).

All three of the top local releases should remain strong this coming week, while a new homegrown title, the horror film GUIMOON: The Lightless Door with Kim Kangwoo, is also poised to open high on the charts.