“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” leaped to the top spot at the South Korean box office, with a dominant 80% market share worth $6.53 million over the weekend. In its first five days on release the film amassed $8.87 million.
The total was achieved on 2,538 screens, according to data from Kobis, the theatrical tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
The superhero title easily brushed aside last week’s chart topper “Confession,” relegating it to $642,000 and a distant second place. After three weeks on release “Confession” has accumulated $5.19 million, a total “Black Panther” passed in four days.
While the change of ranking was dramatic, the numbers were far from super-heroic. Rather, they were in keeping with the depressed state of Korea’s theatrical sector since a summer sizzle fizzled out.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” managed only the tenth best opening weekend score of the year. The nationwide box office aggregate, at $8.16 million, was stronger than the eight most recent weekends, but ranked only as the 12th largest of 2022.
The original “Black Panther” released in Korea on Feb. 14, 2018, and achieved $20.6 million in its first five days. It registered a $34.9 million cumulative that stands as that year’s ninth largest haul.
Over the latest weekend, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” climbed the rankings from fifth spot to third with $251,000 over the weekend, producing a five-week total of $2.37 million.
Japanese animation “Crayon Shin-chan: School Mystery! The Splendid Tenkasu Academy” held its fourth place with $228,000, achieving a $6.04 million total since release on Sept. 28.
Korean “Remember” has a second weekend to forget. It sank from second place to fifth with an $87,000 score that was an 84% decline compared with its opening session. After two weeks, it has a cumulative of $2.96 million.
“Life Is Beautiful” eked out $66,000 over the weekend, for a cumulative total of $8.14 million since release on Sept. 28.
The weekend’s second ranked new release was Japanese animation “Sword Art Online the Movie – Progressive Scherzo of Deep Night.” It earned $63,000 over the weekend and $85,000 over its opening five days.
“Black Adam” trailed in eighth place with $48,000 in its fourth weekend. Its four-week total of $6.11 million has already been beaten by “Black Panther.”