“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” dominated the Korean box office charts over the latest weekend with a $4.91 million opening weekend. Nationwide box office rose to $9.78 million, up from $7.85 million a week earlier.
The film played on over 2,000 screens and enjoyed a 50.1% market share between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. The film earned $7.1 million in its full five day run since opening on Wednesday.
“Quantumania” landed ahead of “The First Slam Dunk,” the Japanese animation that opened at the beginning of the year and had taken the top spot for the previous two weeks. “Slam Dunk” earned $2.17 million, another strong hold, and down from $2.67 million the previous weekend. Its cumulative total since Jan. 4 stands at $26 million.
Propelled by the film’s popularity, the underlying Japanese comic has now sold over one million copies in Korea, the local publisher Daiwon C.I. said in recent days.
The re-released “Titanic” held on to third place with $1.07 million in its second week. Another James Cameron title “Avatar: The Way of Water” held on to fourth place by virtue of its higher ticket prices then two other titles that attracted more spectators. It earned $280,000 to extend its cumulative to $105.3 million in Korea since mid-December.
Korean animation title “Duda & Duda: The Secret of HooHoo Island” took fifth place in its opening weekend with a gross of $263,000 over the weekend. Over the full five days of its debut, the film grossed $319,000.
German animation film “The Amazing Maurice” opened in sixth place with a weekend score of $257,000 and a five-day cumulative of $357,000.
Long-running “Hero” earned $112,000 over the weekend for a $24.6 million cumulative since release on Dec. 21.
Korean drama “Next Sohee,” which premiered in the Cannes Critics Week last year, also earned $112,000 in its second week of commercial release. After 12 days in Korean cinemas, it has advanced its haul to $491,000.
Taiwan drama film “Someday or One Day” placed ninth with $105,000 in its third weekend. That lifted its cumulative to $2.51 million since opening in Korean theaters on Jan. 25.
“Babylon” brought up tenth place with $98,000 for a three week cumulative of $1.44 million.