The release of “Avatar: The Way of Water” in South Korea largely lived up to expectations and delivered a major boost to the final quarter’s flagging box office.
Its gross revenues between Friday and Sunday represented the second biggest opening of the year. They lifted the nationwide total to the country’s second largest weekend of 2022.
“Avatar 2” earned $19.0 million between Friday and Sunday from 2,809 screens, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented a hefty 84% market share. Over the full five days since its Wednesday debut, the film earned $24.8 million.
In admissions terms, the film sold 2.03 million tickets over the weekend proper and 2.68 million over the full five-day opening period. The huge opening gave Korea a $22.7 million Friday-to-Sunday weekend.
The highest honors of the year still belong to Korean action film “The Roundup,” which opened in May with a $21.1 million Friday-Sunday debut, before the film ran on to a $100 million lifetime total. That May 20-22 weekend delivered a $24.0 million Friday-Sunday nationwide gross total,
“The Night Owl,” which had topped the Korean chart for the previous three weekends fell to second place, earning $1.38 million or a 6% market share. After nearly four weeks on release, it has accumulated $21.8 million.
“The Haunted House: The Dimensional Goblin and the Seven Worlds” a feature spin-off from “Shinbi’s Haunted House,” was the weekend’s only serious attempt at a counter-programming release. It earned $935,000 between Friday and Sunday and has accumulated $1.33 million including last week’s pre-release screenings.
Despite the “Avatar 2” onslaught which cut its screen count, Japanese romantic drama film “Even if This Love Disappears From the World Tonight” grew again. In its third weekend of release it managed a gross score of $744,000. That was up from $674,000 the previous weekend and $299,000 in its first session. After 19 days in Korean cinemas, it has amassed $2.61 million.
No other film on release exceeded $200,000 over the weekend. Korea’s “A Birth” earned $195,000 for a nearly three-week total of $2.07 million. “Pororo and Friends: Virus Busters” earned $129,000 for a $1.10 million total.
“Men of Plastic,” starring the same Don Lee as “The Roundup” sank to seventh place in its third weekend. It earned just $50,000 for a 19-day total of $4.34 million.
A blockbuster in Japan, “One Piece Film Red” earned $40,000 between Friday and Sunday for a 19-day cumulative of $1.51 million. U.S. title “The Menu” served up only $21,000 over its second weekend, for a cumulative of $226,000. Tenth place belonged to “Terra Willy” with $14,700 for a $165,000 12-day total.