The local South Korean horror-thriller “Salmokji: Whispering Water” maintained its position as the weekend’s highest-grossing film during April 17-19. According to figures from KOBIS, the Korean Film Council’s box office tracking service, the movie earned $3.3 million from 472,121 admissions, capturing a commanding 50% share of the weekend’s total revenue.
Directed by Lee Sang-min and featuring performances by Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won, the film centers on a road-view camera crew that confronts terrifying supernatural events at a remote reservoir. Distributed by Showbox, the film has so far amassed a total gross of $10.2 million from 1,461,849 cumulative admissions since its release.
In second place, the sci-fi film “Project Hail Mary,” starring Ryan Gosling, took in $1.3 million during the same weekend. The film has accumulated a total gross of $17.5 million with 2,298,106 admissions since its March 18 debut.
The historical drama “The King’s Warden” ranked third, generating an additional $712,905 from 104,955 admissions. Although its weekly performance has slowed in its eleventh week, the film continues to extend its record as the second most-watched film in Korean history behind “The Admiral: Roaring Currents,” with a cumulative audience reaching 16.5 million and total revenue of $108.6 million.
New releases also made their mark, with the identity drama “My Name” opening in fourth place. Directed by veteran filmmaker Chung Ji-young and starring Yeom Hye-ran and Shin Woo-bin, the film earned $380,515 from 60,953 admissions. Set in 1998, the story follows a boy named Young-oak who struggles with his name and identity at an all-boys school, while his mother Jeong-sun confronts memories related to the 1948 Jeju April 3 Uprising. Released on April 15, “My Name” has reached a total gross of $611,162 and was screened at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year.
In the fifth position, the animated film “Goat” debuted with $114,641, and has earned that amount cumulatively. The re-release of Miyazaki Hayao’s classic “Kiki’s Delivery Service” also re-entered the chart at sixth place, earning $140,117.
Additional films rounding out the top ten include the action-thriller “Shelter” at seventh with $41,752, American action-thriller “Normal” at eighth place with $34,259, a re-release of “The Truman Show” at ninth with $48,875, and the Japanese sports anime “Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle” in tenth place, earning $47,969.
The weekend’s total market gross amounted to $6.6 million, a decrease from the previous week’s $8.01 million.
