Hollywood monster movie “Godzilla vs. Kong’ and Korean historical drama “Book of Fish” each made a claim to be the top film at the Korean box office. But neither could prevent weekend revenues from slumping.
“Fish,” which depicts the encounter between an early 19th century scholar who learns about nature and biodiversity and a peasant fisherman who aspires to better himself, sold the more tickets over the weekend and thus appears top in Korean charts. (It was watched by 54,100 spectators, compared to the 53,400 who watched “Godzilla”.)
“Fish” was directed by Lee Joon-ik, who has previously enjoyed a spectacular run of hit films including: “The King and The Clown,” “Sunny,” “The Throne” and “Dongju: Portrait of a Poet.”
“Godzilla” had higher ticket prices and marginally higher gross revenues. For the second weekend retained its claim to be the highest grossing film in the country. It earned $472,000, giving a cumulative total of $5.58 million since March 25, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS tracking service. “Fish” earned $451,000 for a $2.00 million cumulative since March 31.
“Godzilla” experienced a drop of 64% from its opening weekend to its second, and slumped to just 19% market share, highlighting the Korean theatrical market’s continuing difficulties. New release titles made little impact.
Third place belonged to Bob Odenkirk-starring action film “Nobody” which earned $415,000 over the weekend and $$582,000 over its opening five days. “Mortal Kombat” earned “274,000 over four days, for fifth place. Anthony Hopkins-starring “The Father” earned $133,000 over five days. “The Kindness of Strangers” earned just $46,200.
Overall, the nationwide weekend aggregate box office was just $2.48 million. That was a 31% drop from the previous weekend’s $3.58 million, when figures were briefly pumped up by “Godzilla.”