Korea: ‘The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos’ Rules Chuseok Holiday Box Office

Sonia Kil

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Local films dominated cinemagoing in South Korea over the 4-day Chuseok holiday weekend, traditionally one of the year’s busiest periods. The winner was “The Bad Guys: Reign of Chaos.”

Opening on Wednesday, the CJ Entertainment release earned $20.2 million from 1.97 million admissions over five days. A film adaptation of CJ E&M’s 2014 hit TV series “The Bad Guys” accounted for 49% of the weekend box office. Opening on the same day, “Tazza: One Eyed Jack” and “Cheer Up, Mr. Lee” took second and third places, respectively.

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Starring Don Lee (“Train to Busan”), the story begins as a prisoner transport vehicle overturns on a road and high-profile prisoners escape. The police form a special team of hardened criminals to catch the fugitives.

Lotte Cultureworks’ “One Eyed Jack” earned $12.8 million between Wednesday and Sunday. Directed by Kwon Oh-kwang and starring Park Jung-min and Ryoo Seung-bum, the third instalment of the “Tazza” film series set a franchise best opening score. The gambling crime drama accounted for 25% of total weekend box office.

Next Entertainment World’s “Cheer Up” earned $6.48 million over five days. The comedy drama is the story of a mentally-challenged man who learns that he has a little, sick daughter and goes on a trip with her. It accounted for 16% of total box office.

Korean animated feature, “Hello Carbot the Movie: Save the Moon” slipped to fourth from the previous weekend’s second spot. It earned $1.09 over the four-day weekend for a two-weekend total of $3.3 million.

CJ’s long running comedy action drama “Exit” slipped to fifth place, earning $919,000 over the weekend and extending its total to $66.8 million after seven weekends.

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