The Box Office Showdown
It’s a total vibe shift at the South Korean box office this week. Director Hur Jin-ho’s political crime thriller The Assassin(s) secured the top spot for admissions between October 2 and 4, proving it’s the main character of the season with 412,012 tickets sold. The film, which dives into the 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee, has been making waves since its September 23 launch, currently sitting at $16.3 million in total earnings.
However, don’t sleep on the anime crowd. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island might have landed second in headcounts, but it actually ate when it came to the bank, raking in $3.2 million—the highest gross revenue of the frame. The film, based on Nagano’s viral manga, has officially become a must-watch.
Rounding out the Top 10
The rest of the leaderboard was packed with heavy hitters. The gambling drama Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub held firm in third place, while The Odyssey is almost at a massive 12-million-ticket milestone. The action-fantasy Reawakened Man also made a solid entry in fifth place, starring Koo Kyo-hwan as a guy who keeps coming back to life—honestly, the plot thickens.
Other notable mentions include the Venice-winning Possible Love and the local remake of The Intern, which continue to pull in steady numbers. Overall, the market pulled in $12.6 million, cooling off a bit after last week’s holiday high.
Why it matters
The split between admissions and revenue highlights a clear divide in Korean cinema preferences right now: viewers are showing up in droves for gritty political dramas, but they’re willing to drop more cash for high-grossing, fan-favorite animated experiences. Real talk, the box office is alive and well.
