Hollywood Fantasy 'Wongka' Tops Weekend with 520,000 Viewers... Will It Seize Victory During Seollal Holiday?

Rami Ran Starring 'Simindeokhui' 230,000 Viewers Rank 2
Weekend Box Office Footfall 1,009,441

The Hollywood fantasy film 'Wonka' topped the box office on the first weekend of February.

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated ticket sales network on the 5th, 'Wonka' (directed by Paul King) attracted 526,701 viewers over the three days last weekend (February 2-5), securing the number one spot at the box office. Its revenue share was 53.1%. Since its release on January 31, the film has recorded a cumulative audience of 786,622.

Movie 'Wonka' stills
[Photo by Warner Bros. Korea]

'Wonka' is based on the novel by British author Roald Dahl and depicts the boyhood of Wonka, the world's greatest chocolate factory owner. It portrays the childhood of 'Willy Wonka,' well known from Tim Burton's film 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (2005). The film has ranked within the top five at the North American box office for eight consecutive weeks. It has surpassed $201.12 million (2.692 trillion KRW) in North American cumulative revenue and $571.72 million (7.652 trillion KRW) globally. The production cost was $125 million (167.275 billion KRW).

The film 'Citizen Deokhee' (directed by Park Young-joo), starring actress Ra Mi-ran and based on a true story about voice phishing, attracted 230,316 viewers and ranked second. Since its release on January 24, it has drawn a cumulative audience of 930,424. Director Choi Dong-hoon's sci-fi film 'Alien+Part 2' attracted 48,758 viewers, placing third. Despite an investment of 37 billion KRW, the film has only gathered a cumulative audience of 1,405,360. The break-even point is 8 million viewers.

The documentary film 'Founding War,' depicting the life of former President Syngman Rhee, attracted 28,492 viewers and entered fourth place. Disney's animation 'Wish' drew 24,495 viewers, ranking fifth.

A scene from a movie theater in Seoul
Photo by Yonhap News

In sixth place was 'Spring in Seoul,' seventh was last year's Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or winner 'Anatomy of a Fall,' and eighth was the animation 'Jungle Bunch: World Tour.' The total number of moviegoers last weekend was 1,009,441.

'Wonka' is expected to continue its box office success through the Lunar New Year holiday weekend starting on the 9th. As of 9:30 AM on the 5th, the film holds a real-time reservation rate of 22.4%, ranking first. Three Korean films releasing on the 7th are also strong contenders. 'Dead Man' (directed by Ha Jun-won), starring Jo Jin-woong and Kim Hee-ae, ranks second with 14.6%, 'Dog Days' (directed by Kim Deok-min), starring Youn Yuh-jung and Yoo Hae-jin, is third with 11.7%, and 'Picnic' (directed by Kim Yong-gyun), featuring Na Moon-hee and Kim Young-ok, ranks fifth with 9.9%.