Korean-made action film “Escape From Mogadishu” overcame new release “Jungle Cruise” and holdover “Boss Baby 2” to dominate the South Korean box office over the weekend.
“Mogadishu,” directed by the consistently successful Ryoo Seung-wan, played on 1,688 screens nationwide and earned $4.93 million between Friday and Sunday. That gave it a 57% share of the total weekend box office.
Having launched on Wednesday, its five-day cumulative stood at $6.54 million as of Sunday night, according to data from the Korean Film Council’s Kobis tracking service.
The film stars popular actors Kim Yun-seok and Zo In-sung. It is based on real events in 1991 that saw both South Korean and North Korean diplomatic missions trying to escape from the Somalian capital city and civil war.
The strong opening was more than double last week’s debut by “Boss Baby 2” which managed only $2.08 million for a 32% market share.
The strong opening helped lift the nationwide Korean box office by a third to $8.63 million. That is still a long way behind 2019 pre-COVOD levels, and even behind last year’s summer interlude, but it extends the June-July plateau in which weekend totals are roughly double those of the winter and spring months.
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In its second weekend of release, “Boss Baby 2” slipped by a shade less than 50%, earning $1.06 million, and fell to second position. After 12 days on release it has earned $5.02 million.
“Jungle Cruise” opened in third place with a weekend score of just $906,000. After five days, it has a $1.25 million cumulative.
“Black Widow” fell from second place to fourth with a weekend score of $842,000. After nearly four weeks on release it has earned $24.6 million, making it the top-grossing film of the year in Korea.
“The Cursed: Dead Man’s Prey,” a Korean-made mystery title opened only in fifth place. It earned $901,000 over its opening $901,000 over its first five days.
Another horror title – Korean-Thai co-production “The Medium” – continued to slip into the shadows. It earned just $121,000 in sixth place for a running total of $7.35 million since July 14.