The comedy-drama “Citizen of a Kind,” revolving around a woman taking matters into her own hands after falling victim to a scam, delivered on its earlier promise during previews and emerged victorious at the South Korean box office on its opening weekend. With a market share exceeding 40%, “Citizen” earned $2.59 million between Friday and Sunday, contributing to a cumulative total of $3.58 million over five days since its Wednesday release.
Directed by Park Young-ju, the film follows a woman who, facing the ruin of her business, takes a substantial loan to revive it. Uncovering the loan as a fraudulent scheme orchestrated by an overseas gang involved in potential human trafficking, she embarks on a journey to China to rectify the situation. The movie explores the prevalent themes of phone scams and forced labor, which have become recurring topics in Asian cinema.
Despite the success of “Citizen of a Kind,” the overall weekend revenues in the Korean film industry were notably subdued, amounting to just $5.94 million. The scarcity of fresh titles in cinemas played a role in this dip.
In the second spot, the fantasy action film “Alienoid 2” experienced a 57% weekend-on-weekend decline, earning $884,000 between Friday and Sunday. Since its release on January 10, the film has garnered a cumulative total of $9.45 million, following the success of its 2022 predecessor, which earned $12.2 million.
The animated feature “Wish” secured the third position with $516,000 over the weekend, accumulating $9.54 million since its release on January 3.
“12.12: The Day,” a political-historical-action drama and last year’s biggest film, held onto the fourth spot, earning $381,000 over the weekend and reaching a cumulative total of $95.0 million.
In fifth place, the film “Migration” earned $286,000, achieving a total of $2.10 million since its release on January 10.
The Korean historical actioner “Noryang: Deadly Sea,” which dominated the Christmas season, earned $168,000 over the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to $33.5 million.
Japanese animation “New Dimension! Crayon Shinchan the Movie: Battle of Supernatural Powers – Flying Sushi” continued its successful run, earning $154,000 over the weekend and reaching a cumulative total of $6.56 million since its release on December 22.
Luc Besson’s “Dogman” entered the top ten in eighth place with a $136,000 Friday-to-Sunday score, while the re-released Japanese animation “Your Name” claimed the ninth spot with $132,000.
The political documentary “Kim Dae-jung on the Road” rounded out the top ten, earning $58,000 and reaching a cumulative total of $800,000 since its release on January 10.
