Korea Box Office: ‘Rebound’ Fails to Provide Bounce on Quietest Weekend of the Year

Japanese animation Suzume held on to top spot for a fifth consecutive weekend at the South Korean box office, as Korean-produced sports film Rebound proved to be misnamed. Arriving only in second place, Rebound failed to provide any bounce to the beleaguered cinema sector, leaving the weekend as the lowest scoring this year.

Suzume earned $3.08 million with a dominant 46% market share, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That lifted the films running total to $33.9 million. It is now within sight of overtaking another Japanese animation The First Slam Dunk to be the top-scoring film released in Korea this year and to overtake the 2023 total of Avatar: The Way of Water.

Based on a true story about how a 2012 high school basketball team overcame multiple handicaps to play at a national championship with a squad of just six players, Rebound opened with $1.56 million between Friday and Sunday for a 23% market share. Over its five-day run since opening on Wednesday, it has earned $2.10 million.

The First Slam Dunk shot another $421,000 over the weekend. That was good enough for third place in revenue terms, though it laid up only sixth in ticket sales ranking. Its cumulative total is $35.0 million since release since Jan. 4.

Dungeons Dragons: Honor Among Thieves managed $373,000 or just 5.5% market share in its second weekend of release in Korea. Its two-weekend cumulative is a lowly $2.02 million.

Amazons fact-based corporate-sports drama Air earned $349,000 and placed fifth in Korea. Over the five days since its Wednesday opening, it earned $569,000.

Widespread previews for John Wick: Chapter 4 placed the action film sixth over the weekend with $348,000. It opens properly on Wednesday and accounts for 46% of all advanced ticket reservations. (The Super Mario Bros. Movie does not open in Korea until April 26.)

No other film made more than $100,000 between Friday and Sunday. The weekend was the lowest scoring of 2023 with a nationwide theatrical aggregate of just $6.74 million. With numbers as weak as these, it can be little surprise that the Kofic websites own headlines are now focused on cinema exhibitors survival strategies and essays asking where all the teenagers have gone.