Lim Young-woong’s Concert Film Tops Weekend Box Office

The concert film “Lim Young Woong IM HERO The Stadium” topped the South Korean box office this past weekend, outperforming traditional narrative films like “Alien: Romulus” and “Pilot.”

Data from Kobis, the tracking service of the Korean Film Council (Kofic), reveals that “IM HERO” earned $1.89 million between Friday and Sunday, and $3.47 million over its five-day debut. Meanwhile, “Alien: Romulus” earned $1.66 million in its third weekend, accumulating a total of $12.5 million over 19 days.

However, chart rankings in South Korea are typically based on the number of spectators. From this perspective, “Alien: Romulus” maintained its lead for the third weekend, selling 223,000 tickets compared to 87,000 tickets for “IM HERO.” The discrepancy is attributed to the higher ticket prices for the concert film.

Lim Young Woong, known for his ballads and trot songs, gained fame from a 2020 TV talent show. With his appealing looks and healthy image, he has amassed a superstar status and a Taylor Swift-like following in Korea.

The film captures his performances at Seoul World Cup Stadium in May, along with documentary footage detailing months of preparation and behind-the-scenes insights. Over five days, around 161,000 people watched the film, which is significantly more than the number who attended the live shows.

The comedy hit “Pilot” accumulated $906,000 in its fifth weekend, placing it third in revenue (or second in ticket sales). Since its release on July 31, it has earned $31 million and sold 4.51 million tickets, making it the fourth biggest film of the year.

Ticket sales also caused a twist in the rankings. “Twisters” took fourth place in terms of revenue, earning $555,000 in its third weekend and reaching a cumulative total of $4.32 million. The Korean animation “Heartsping: Teenieping of Love” followed closely, earning $511,000 over the weekend. Despite dropping to fifth in revenue, it held fourth place in spectator numbers due to a high volume of children’s ticket sales, and has accumulated $5.98 million over four weekends.

Korean horror-thriller “Spring Garden” took sixth place with $500,000 over the weekend, bringing its 12-day total to $2.37 million.

A re-release of Derek Tsang’s youth film “Better Days” from Hong Kong and China earned $343,000 over the weekend, placing it in seventh.

The Korean feel-good cheerleading film “Victory” earned $319,000 in its third weekend, bringing its cumulative total to $2.58 million.

The political thriller “Land of Happiness” earned $186,000, securing ninth place for the weekend. After three weekends, it has accumulated $4.77 million.

The drama and book-adaptation “Because I Hate Korea” opened in tenth place with $131,000 over the weekend and $260,000 over its five-day opening period. It had previously been the opening film at last year’s Busan International Film Festival.

The weekend’s box office total was $7.97 million, a 15% decrease from the previous week.

The latest data highlights the challenges the Korean box office faces in recovering post-COVID. August’s box office earnings were KRW117 million ($87.4 million), down 19% from August 2023. July’s earnings were KRW115 million, a drop from KRW140 million.

Source: Variety