Korea Box Office: ‘MAL·MO·E’ and ‘Inside Me’ Remain on Top

By Sonia Kil

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – There was no change at the top of the Korean , as local titles “MAL·MO·E: The Secret Mission” and “Inside Me (a.k.a. The Dude in Me)” dominated a second weekend. Lotte’s “MAL·MO·E” earned $4.79 million from 618,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday for a total of $16.7 million from 2.23 million admissions after two weekends. Merry Christmas’ “Inside” earned $3.78 million for a two-weekend total of $12.2 million. The two films together accounted for 56.8% of the total weekend box office.

Opening on Thursday, American sci fi drama “Glass” debuted in third. Handled in by Disney, the film earned $2.78 million over four days. Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” earned $1.02 million between Friday and Sunday to extend its three-weekend total to $11.3 million.

Korean animation, “Underdog” opened on Wednesday and landed in fifth. The Next Entertainment World release earned $857,000 over its five opening days. The animated feature was the opening title at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in 2018.

Two other animated features, “Dino Mecard: Tiny Saur’s Island” and Japan’s “Mirai” took sixth and seventh, respectively. “Dino Mecard” earned $381,000 for a total of $2.59 million after two weekends. Distributed by Megabox, “Mirai” earned $571,000 in five days, including some $354,000 over the weekend. The Mamoru Hosoda film screened at the Busan International Film Festival last year.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” added $319,000 to extend its twelve-weekend total to $76.1 million. It took eighth place in revenue terms, beating “Duck Duck Goose,” which grossed $280,000 over the same period, but sold fewer tickets than the American animation.