Holdover title “Deliver Us From Evil” once again topped the Korean box office, over the weekend. It earned $6.74 million for a cumulative of $26.5 million after just 11 days on release.
The hitman on a last job thriller managed a strong hold, losing only 37% in its second weekend, compared with $10.6 million on its debut. It held on to a 51% market share. Its trajectory should see “Deliver” overtake “Peninsula,” until now the biggest post-coronavirus title, within a couple of days.
New release title, “OK! Madam,” a comedy starring Uhm Jeong-hwa, opened in second place with a $4.57 million haul. It played on 1,288 screens and accounted for 35% of the weekend box office.
“Steel Rain: Summit” which had played as the top film three weeks ago, was a distant third. It managed $619,000, a drop of 58% compared with last weekend. Its cumulative is now $11.9 million.
Overall, the aggregate weekend score was little changed at $13 million, compared with $13.4 million the previous session. That may reflect the limited new releases on offer as much as the ever-changing virus conditions.
In response to the discovery of a new virus hotspot, Seoul city authorities on Saturday raised their hazard warning to Level 2. While cinemas were not specifically mentioned in the directive, they are likely to be affected by the regulation which means that all private and public indoor meetings of 50 or more and outdoor meetings of over 100 will be banned. Seoul typically represents 35-40% of Korea’s national box office.
“Peninsula” held fourth place with $331,000, advancing its cumulative total to $27.6 million since its July 15 release. In fifth, was newly released Ukrainian animation title “The Stolen Princess,” with an opening score of $213,000.