The singing event debuts in Korea
“KPop Demon Hunters: A Sing-Along Event” impressed Korean audiences, opening in fourth place with $323,000 from 39,000 entries across 143 screens.
In first place, South Korean comedy “The First Ride” debuted at the top of the Korean box office with $1.56 million from 230,810 views and a market share of 28.8%, according to KOBIS, a tracking service run by the Korean Film Board. Directed by Nam Dae-jung (“The Great Battle”), the film follows the story of a group of childhood friends whose long-awaited trip to Thailand quickly turns into mishaps. The cast includes Kang Ha Neul, Cha Eun Woo, Kim Young Kwang, Kang Young Suk, and Han Seon Hwa. The film has grossed $2.3 million so far, including midweek previews.
The Japanese anime film Chainsaw Man The Movie: Reze Arc fell to second place with $1.08 million, bringing its total revenues to $20.7 million. The film is based on the hit manga story “Reze” by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Directed by Tatsuya Yoshihara from a screenplay by Hiroshi Seko, the film follows Denji as his encounter with café worker Rize leads to a conflict between intimate connection and bloody chaos. The voice cast includes Rina Ueda, Fairuz Ai, Tomori Kusunoki, and Maya Uchida. Sony/Crunchyroll handles distribution in the market.
The Japanese psychological horror film “The Exit 8” ranked third with revenues of $602,000, with a total of $2.2 million. The film, directed by Kawamura Genki, stars Ninomiya Kazunari as a man trapped in a seemingly endless subway corridor where he must discover subtle anomalies to escape.
The re-released stop-motion classic “Coraline” continued at No. 5 with $284,000 ($2 million). “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle” came in sixth place with revenues of $216,000 for a cumulative total of $42.1 million. Park Chan-wook’s “No Other Choice” took $147,000 ($20 million), while popular winner Bingyao’s “World of Love” added $128,000 ($438,000).
In ninth place was “Evangelion: Death (True)² & Rebirth” with $108,000, and “Jujutsu Kaisen: Hidden Inventory / Premature Death – The Movie” rounded out the top 10 with $98,600 for a total of $1.5 million.
The first ten films grossed a combined $4.5 million, a decline from the previous frame’s revenue of $4.7 million.