The COVID-19 epidemic in South Korea continues to be uncontrolled, and the number of new confirmed cases in a single day continues to remain at about 600. The scale of the outbreak could increase at any time as a result of the spread of clusters of relatives and friends gatherings, coupled with the accelerated spread of mutant strains imported from abroad in the community. As a result, the authorities may have again extended the existing epidemic prevention measures (level 2 in the metropolitan area, 1.5 in the non-metropolitan area) and the measures prohibiting the gathering of more than 5 people. Last week, the Korean market only had one strong new work, and the market heat did not change significantly, and the total number of moviegoers on the weekend was only about 250,000. In terms of film rankings, the Hollywood horror film "Chainsaw Horror 9" mobilized more than 60,000 viewers to win the weekend championship in a low-key manner. The American film "History of Faith" did well the following week, rising to the second place at the weekend box office. DreamWorks Animation's "Crazy Primitives 2" is general, retreating to the third place at the weekend box office. Japanese film history champion "Devil's Blade Wireless Train" once again showed a reverse decline, still ranking fourth in the weekend list. Defending champion Rain and Your Story is on a steady track and remains in the top five of the weekend list.
First of all, focus on the performance of "Fast and Furious 9" in South Korea. "Rapid Shock 9" landed in the Korean market on Wednesday's "Buddha's Birthday" national holiday, 37 days earlier than the North American market and two days earlier than the mainland market. The sequel to this bloody action series landed on a large scale of 2271 screens in Korea on the first day, screened 8670 times on the first day, attracted 400,300 viewers on the same day, won 3.41 million US dollars at the box office, contributed 84% of the market share of the day, and won the single-day box office championship in South Korea. With the obvious holiday bonus, the opening of "Fast and Furious 9" easily broke the record for the first day of the "Fast" series in South Korea, and also surpassed the local blockbuster "Busan 2: Peninsula" ($2.9 million on the first day) released last year, setting a record for the highest first day of the epidemic in the Korean market. According to preliminary estimates, the first week of "Fast and Furious 9" is expected to mobilize more than one million people to win the show, and will directly squeeze into the top five of the annual box office in South Korea. So far, the highest number of people in South Korea in 2021 is Pixar Animation "Psychic Journey", which has mobilized a total of 2.048 million viewers.
Looking at the South Korean weekend market situation last week, the horror film sequel "Chainsaw Horror 9: Vortex" was the only new work with strong strength last Monday, the film started at 688 screens in the first weekend, screened more than 7400 times in three days on the weekend, and only recorded a weak performance of about 8 people per game. Starring Chris Locke and Samuel Jackson, the new film opened with 60,600 spectators on the weekend and attracted 88,000 spectators in the first five days, winning the weekend championship with a clear advantage. "Chainsaw Horror 9" is directed by Darren Lynn Bowsman, who directed the second to fourth parts of the "Chainsaw Horror" series, returning to the camera, telling the story of veteran detective (Samuel Jackson) leading detectives (Chris Locke) to investigate the tragic serial murder case, and the rumors of the reappearance of the "Puzzle Killer" once again arouse the fear in everyone's hearts. The film also didn't start as well as expected in North America last weekend, grossing just $12 million in its first week, with the South Korean market contributing only 6.5 percent.
The American thriller "History of Faith" maintained a screening of 596 screens in the third weekend, screening more than 3700 times in three days on the weekend, and recorded an average of nearly 10 people per game, and the trend was relatively stable. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel Brosnaan, the film mobilized more than 36,900 viewers over three days over the weekend, successfully countering "Crazy Primitives 2" and "Rain and Your Story" to the weekend box office runner-up. Based on the true story of British businessman Greville Wynne, the historical film is down just 19 percent from the previous weekend and has mobilized 283,000 hits in its three weeks of release and has now grossed $2.3 million. So far, the cumulative global box office of this historical film has exceeded 10 million US dollars, of which the North American market has contributed nearly 60%, and South Korea is the second best performing overseas market, second only to Australia (3.4 million US dollars cumulatively).
DreamWorks Animation sequel "Crazy Primitive Man 2" was cut to 616 screens the following weekend, with a total of 3284 screenings in three days, the scale of screenings was cut by nearly half, and the average number of people per game also rose to 10 people. The sequel, which came out after seven years, received another 33,400 spectators this weekend, giving up the weekend title. The film fell 31% from the opening weekend, mobilizing 206,700 people in the 12 days of release in South Korea and earning more than $1.6 million at the box office. The film was released in the North American market on Thanksgiving Day last November, and then in the mainland market, grossing more than $165 million worldwide, of which the two major markets of the mainland and North America contributed more than $50 million. The Korean market is one of the markets that was released later, and the current epidemic situation in the country is also more severe, so it is difficult for family movies to have a better performance.
The new champion of Japanese film history box office "Devil's Blade Infinity Train" was expanded to 503 screen screenings on the 15th weekend of release, with a total of more than 2550 screenings in three days, the scale of screenings increased slightly compared with the previous week, the average number of people per game still reached about 12 people, and the performance was still in the top ten. This phenomenon-level work mobilized 29,100 people in three days over the weekend, down 4% from the previous weekend, and continued to maintain an eye-catching trend. As of Sunday, the cumulative number of visitors to "Devil's Blade" in South Korea has reached 2.004 million, becoming the second work to break 2 million this year after "Psychic Journey". Up to now, the cumulative box office of "Ghost In the Shell" in South Korea has also reached 17.2 million US dollars, which has surpassed "Psychic Journey" to reach the top of the Annual Box Office In South Korea. According to the current momentum, the film's impact on the annual number of people in the "Psychic Journey" is also ten to nine.
The new work "Rain and Your Story", directed by Cao Qinmo of "Very Father and Son File", was reduced to 615 screen screenings on the weekend, with a total of more than 3,800 screenings in three days, and the average number of people per game also fell to more than 7 people. The romantic film starring Jiang Hena and Jiang Sula mobilized another 27,700 viewers over the weekend, down 39% from the previous weekend, and the cumulative number of people in the 18 days of release has reached 347,000, and the cumulative box office has only received more than 2.8 million US dollars. However, the film has now entered the top three grossing korean films in 2021. Due to the impact of the epidemic, South Korea's local performance is extremely weak, and there are currently no local films that have mobilized more than 500,000 people. Another local film, "Memories of Tomorrow", mobilized another 15,700 spectators over the weekend, down only 23% from the previous weekend, and has now reached 323,000, temporarily ranking fifth at the annual local box office.
The American film "Minari", which performed better during the awards season, was screened to 465 screens on the weekend, with an average of 630 screenings per day, and the average number of people per show dropped to about 8 people. Starring Korean actors Steven Won, Han Yili and Yoon Ru-jeong, the work attracted another 14,800 spectators over the weekend, with a cumulative number of 1.114 million people in the 11 weeks of release and a cumulative box office of $8.88 million. So far, the Korean market alone has contributed nearly two-thirds of the film's global box office.
Jin jiu and Zhang Yunhan starred in the new local film "You Are Very Precious to Me" was screened on more than 2,200 screens on 449 screens across the country last week, attracting 10,400 spectators on the weekend, ranking ninth on the weekend list. This film is based on the Helen Keller Act, a bill for the support of people with audiovisual disabilities, focusing on the socially neglected group of people with audiovisual disabilities.