Local science-fiction survival thriller “Hope” stormed the top of the South Korean box office during the weekend of Jul. 17–19.
According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the highly anticipated blockbuster generated $11.3 million from 1,504,019 admissions over the three-day window, capturing a dominant 66.62% share of the total market revenue.
Directed by Na Hong Jin, the big-budget production features a star-studded international and local ensemble including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander. The narrative centers on the residents of a remote, isolated harbor village who discover a mysterious alien entity on the outskirts of their town, quickly turning their quiet community into a desperate battleground for human survival. Capitalizing on massive pre-release anticipation and extensive preview screenings, the film has amassed a cumulative gross of $16 million from 2,129,723 total admissions.
“Minions & Monsters” debuted in second place, capturing $2.1 million from 308,575 admissions over the frame. Since its launch, the film has gathered a total local cume of $2.6 million from 374,784 ticket buyers.
“Moana” moved to third place during its sophomore outing, collecting $1.2 million from 173,555 admissions. The film has brought its South Korean cumulative haul to $5.6 million from 772,104 total viewers.
“Toy Story 5” took fourth place, bringing in an additional $834,989 from 114,720 ticket buyers. The animation has pushed its total local footprint to $19.1 million from 2,750,183 total admissions since its mid-June premiere.
Psychological horror-remake “The Eyes” finished in fifth place, generating $552,784 from 75,565 admissions. Directed by Yeom Ji-ho and starring Shin Min-ah and Kim Nam-hee, the thriller has maintained excellent longevity into its fourth frame, lifting its cumulative total to $9.9 million from 1,431,223 total admissions.
Faith-based animated musical “David” was in sixth spot, pulling in $436,845 over the frame to push its overall total past the million-dollar threshold.
Long-running genre juggernaut “Colony” placed seventh, adding $92,196 from 11,534 admissions. The Yeon Sang-ho viral hive-mind thriller starring Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan, and Ji Chang-wook has achieved a cume of $42.2 million from 5,941,130 tickets since its May 21 arrival.
The Japanese animated feature “Doraemon the Movie: New Nobita and the Castle of the Undersea Devil” followed in eighth place, pulling in $42,042 over the three-day weekend for a cumulative gross of $424,137.
Josh Safdie’s table tennis comedy-drama “Marty Supreme,” starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow, took the ninth position with a weekend take of $48,551, bringing its cume to $853,810.
Rounding out the bottom rung of the top 10 was the Japanese animated franchise entry “Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity,” which added $30,669 from 3,492 admissions to push its cumulative total to $126,351.
The overall market collective gross for the weekend was $17.1 million, a massive lift from last week’s $8.2 million.
