“Top Gun Maverick” flew even higher on its second weekend at the Korean box office, holding on to the top spot and fractionally increasing its gross take. The sky-high performance was more than enough to overshadow the otherwise promising opening of Park Chan-wook’s “Decision to Leave.”
“Top Gun Maverick” earned $9.72 million between Friday and Sunday, with a 59% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That compared with $9.55 million and a 57% market share on its debut weekend. After 12 days in Korean cinemas, the film has accumulated $27.6 million.
The meticulously-made “Decision,” which earned Park the best director prize at Cannes in May, represented interesting counter-programming to the unabashed spectacle of “Top Gun Maverick.” It opened brightly with $2.57 million over the weekend, representing a 16% share, and $3.84 million over its opening five days.
“The Witch: Part 2. The Other One” earned $1.73 million on its third weekend, advancing its cumulative to $21.0 million. Crime action film The Roundup earned $1.62 million in fourth place, extending its aggregate haul since May 18 to $99 million.
Behind the top four, there were relatively thin pickings. “Lightyear” earned $222,000 for a $2.63 million cumulative. And Korea’s other Cannes prizewinner, “Broker” earned $80,000 for a $9.16 million cumulative after four weekends.
While there remains extreme polarization between the top titles and the also-rans, the monthly figures show box office in June holding on to the comeback gains of May. The country dropped most of its COVID protocols at the beginning of May, allowing theatrical cinema to bounce back.
Gross revenues in June were KRW158 billion ($122 million), slightly ahead of May’s KRW150 million ($116 million) in local currency terms. June enjoyed 15.5 million ticket sales, compared with May’s 14.6 million.