Latest Marvel Hit Becomes Top-Selling Title of the Pandemic

Sales at the Korean box office remained strong going into the Christmas holiday weekend, following the record pandemic crowds a week earlier. The business was down slightly to 1.77 million sales, but with no major new domestic titles in weeks, the local market share was pushed down to just under 1%.

Leading the charts once more after its huge debut was Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home. The comic book tentpole slowed by just 25% as it welcomed another 1.3 million viewers (USD 11.06 million) to theaters. With 4.83 million entries (USD 41.03 million) counted to date, the film is already the most successful film of the pandemic at the Korean box office.

Debuting in a distant second place was the spy-action film The King’s Man, a prequel to the popular Kingsman films. The film launched with 292,000 sales (USD 2.58 million) over the weekend and 405,000 tickets (USD 3.48 million) in total over its first five days. The prequel seems unlikely to generate the enthusiasm of the two previous entries in the franchise, which welcomed 6.1 million and 4.9 million viewers.

The Matrix Resurrections, the fourth entry in the sci-fi series, had a hard time in the Korean market, as it opened with only 98,000 entries (USD 866,000) over the weekend. The film has filled 157,000 seats (USD 1.35 million) since its Wednesday launch in cinemas.

Sliding two spots but down only 12% was the Disney animation Encanto. The film added 20,000 sales (USD 157,000) over the frame, raising its total to 610,000 admissions (USD 4.89 million).

Just behind was another children’s animated title, as Cinderella and the Spellbinder kicked off its run with 18,000 viewers (USD 136,000) welcomed during the weekend and a total of 20,500 spectators (USD 152,000) counted over its first five days.

Spider-Man: No Way Home will remain a threat going into its third weekend, but some local competition is on the way in the form of the ensemble romantic comedy A YEAR-END MEDLEY.