Korea Box Office: ‘Searching’ Climbs to Top Spot

By Sonia Kil

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Improving its score by 62% in its second weekend, Sony’s “Searching” climbed to top of the South Korean . Starring Korean-American actor John Cho, the drama earned $5.79 million from 768,000 admissions between Friday and Sunday for a total of $13.0 million from 1.74 million admissions after two weekends. It accounted for 50% of the total weekend box office.

Local romantic drama, “On Your Wedding Day” slipped to second. The Megabox release earned $2.38 million over the weekend for a total of $18.8 million after three weekends on release.

Opening on Thursday, Leigh Whannell’s “Upgrade” debuted in third. The UPI release earned $902,000 admissions over its opening four days.

Korean duo, “High Society” and “Along with the Gods: The Last 49 Days” took fourth and fifth places, respectively. With a sharp week-on-week drop of 72%, Lotte’s “High Society” earned $643,000 between Friday and Sunday for a two-weekend total of $5.23 million. Another Lotte release, “Last 49 Days” added $389,000 over the weekend to extend total to $90.7 million after six weekends.

UPI’s “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” and CJ Entertainment’s “The Spy Gone North” remained in sixth and seventh places. “Here We Go Again” earned $317,000 for a total of $17.0 million after five weekends. “Spy” earned $245,000 and extended its five-weekend cumulative total to $37.7 million.