For the second weekend running, comedy action film “Confidential Assignment 2: International” held top spot at the South Korean box office. And it did so with a massive 75% share of the market.
But as the Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) holiday retreated into the rear-view mirror numbers, both for the sequel film and the nationwide box office, came crashing down.
“Confidential Assignment 2” earned $6.89 million over the latest Friday to Sunday period, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). That figure was down 57% compared with its opening salvo of $21.0 million a week earlier.
Still, since opening on Sept. 7, the film has already amassed $35.2 million. That makes it the fifth highest grossing film of the year to date, ahead of “Hunt” and behind “Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”
The film was directed by Lee Seok-hoon and executive produced by hitmaker JK Youn. It stars Hyun bin, Yoo Hai Jin, Lim Yoon-a and Daniel Henney.
It is a sequel to the 2017 hit “Confidential Assignment,” in which operatives from North and South Korea cooperate to take down a criminal. The earlier title earned $46 million from 7.82 million spectators.
Comedy, “6/45” held on to second place, but earned less than $1 million. It scored $910,000 for a cumulative of $13.4 million since release on Aug. 24, 2022.
Recent holdover, “Katuri The Movie The Big City Adventure” earned $259,000 in third place. The Korean-made animation has earned $949,000 after 11 days on release.
“Hunt” took $156,000 in fourth place for a cumulative of $32.0 million. “Top Gun Maverick” earned $151,000 for a cumulative of $63.2 million. Previously released in 2019, “Aladdin” earned $111,000 in sixth place for a cumulative of $78.6 million.
The weekend’s highest placed new release was “Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero” which opened in seventh with a score of $80,800 over the weekend and $117,000 over its opening five days.
“The Black Phone” earned $78,800 in its second weekend of release in Korea. That gave it a $749,000 cumulative.
“Hansan: Rising Dragon” brought up tenth place with $40,000 over the weekend and a cumulative of $53.1 million since release eon July 27, 2022.
“Vita Dolce,” a Korean drama about a popular singer who become a classical musician, also scored $189,000 from 8,100 ticket sales, according to Kobis.