2013.11.22 - 2013.11.24

Korea Proves Fire Retardant as "Friends 2" holds True...

Kwak Gyeong-taek's "Friends 2" held onto the top spot despite the arrival of the engrossing "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire". "Catching Fire" smashed the U.S. box office record for a November release, grossing a grotesque $161.1M as fans flooded the theatres to catch the second instalment of "Hunger Games" trilogy. However a slow Korean market proved incombustible in the face of this fiery U.S. action-adventure, choosing instead to re-elect Kwak's popular sequel as it moved onto 2.3 million admissions in its second weekend out.

Last weekKwak Gyeong-taek's much anticipated reunion dislodged the mighty "Thor: The Dark World" to sit atop a relatively sedate box office, walking away with a little over a million admissions in week one. That strong opening haul was slashed in week two as the Busan buddies could only hustle 472,874 (25.5%) over 699 screens, but that effort was enough to hold out against the oncoming firestorm currently burning ferociously on the other side the world. "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" opened to 630 screens around the retardant South, earning just $2.6M in its opening weekend. In 2012, "The Hunger Games" also opened in second to the popular local romance drama "Architecture 101", but then trickled down the charts and was ejected in week five. Before it was sent packing, Collins's adaptation scrapped together just 604,758 admissions – dashing any hopes that the sequel will spontaneously combust.

The omnibus drama "Marriage Blue" opened its account with 312,407 (16%) over 520 screens, while Sony Pictures Animation's new feature "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" followed suit with 252,105 (12.5%) of its own. "Marriage Blue" is the fourth film by directorHong Ji-young("Modern Family","Horror Stories", "The Naked Kitchen") and follows four couples as they stumble around love before the tie the knot. The film boosts an large ensemble cast includingKim Kang-woo,Kim Hyo-jin,Lee Yeon-hee,Taecyeon,Ma Dong-seokandGuzal Tursunova. In fifth place was the God of Thunder himself. "Thor: The Dark World" stole silver the weekend before, but took a serious tumble in week four with just 164,806 (8.3%). However it still managed to keep ahead ofJeong Yeon-sik's debut"The Five"which closely contested Marvel's latest with 146,050 (7.8%) of its own.

The enigmatic, and arguably experimental, "Gravity" cleared 68,423 (5.3%) admissions to move its total tally in Korea to 3M ($28M), leavingPark Hong-soo's action drama"Commitment"to trail far behind it with 13,192 (0.5%)."Commitment"is in its third week now but has only managed to attract 1,032,128 million admissions ($6.5M). 20^thCentury Fox's "The Counsellor" fell from sixth to ninth, adding just 10,636 to its meek new total of 126,401. Lastly,Yeon Sang-ho's new animation"The Fake"cracked a top ten finish in week one, bringing in 6,453 admissions over just 76 screens. Yeon's edgy new flick impressed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, but the Korean populace seem so far content to have his success remain exclusively on festival circuits.

- C.J. Wheeler ([email protected]; @KoreaOnTheCouch)

Korean Box Office - Admissions for the Weekend 2013.11.22 - 2013.11.24 (www.kobis.or.kr)