Korea Box Office: ‘Escape’ Rises to Weekend Market Leader at Third Attempt

“Escape,” a Korean-made action drama that has been on release for most of the month, took the lead at the South Korean box office over the latest weekend.

The film recounts the story of a North Korean soldier who dreams of defecting and the South Korean officer who pursues him. It is directed by Lee Jong-pil, who previously made surprise 2020 hit “Samjin Company English Class.” It stars Lee Je-hoon and Koo Kyo-hwan in the lead roles.

“Escape” earned $2.61 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That represented an unusual 7% week-on-week gain for the film, suggesting strong word of mouth sentiment. After 19 days on release “Escape” has accumulated $13.0 million, earned from 1.9 million spectators.

“Inside Out 2,” which headed the chart for the previous five weeks, slipped to second place. It earned $1.98 million over the weekend to extend its cumulative total to $55.8 million and further cement its place as the top import title of the year-to-date in Korea.

The weekend’s top new release was Japanese animation title “Detective Conan the Movie: The Million Dollar Pentagram.” It took top-spot on Wednesday, the day of its release, and slipped to second position on Thursday and Friday, before slipping further to third on Saturday and Sunday. Over the standard Friday to Sunday weekend “Conan” earned $1.58 million. Over its full five-day opening run, it managed $2.71 million.

Notwithstanding the better-than-expected endurance of “Escape” and “Handsome Guys,” the summer season, once a high point for box office in Korea, is losing momentum. Aggregate nationwide receipts over the weekend slipped 12% and were a lackluster $10.4 million.

“Handsome Guys,” a modestly-budgeted Korean adaptation of “Tucker & Dale vs Evil,” held strongly in its fourth weekend of release. It earned $1.23 million for a cumulative of $10.7 million since debuting on June 26.

“Project Silence,” a Korean disaster actioner, fared less well. It dropped 65% from its opening weekend to earn just $870,000 in its second weekend session. Directed and co-written by Kim Tae-gon, “Project Silence” takes a road bridge near Incheon Airport as the setting for a chain reaction of accidents, explosions and mayhem and an attack from genetically engineered dogs trained to target people according to their voice. Its cumulative after 11 days in cinemas is $4.22 million.

“Despicable Me 4,” which had two days of previews ahead of a Wednesday (July 24) wide release, took sixth place over the latest weekend. It earned $713,000.

“Hijack 1971,” a fact-based Korean kidnap story about an airplane hijacking during which an explosion caused the pilot to lose an eye, took $345,000 over the weekend to extend its cumulative to $11.9 million after five weeks on release.

“2023 Youngtak Concert: Tak Show 2,” a concert film made up of excerpts from singer Youngtak’s 2023 Korean tour performances, earned $191,000 over the weekend. Over its four-day cinema opening, it earned $348,000 for eighth place over the weekend.

Japanese animation, “Doraemon: Nobita’s Earth Symphony” took ninth place with $91,000 for a two-week cumulative of $386,000. Japanese art house film “Perfect Days” came in tenth with $59,000 for a cumulative of $339,000.