The South Korean box office saw significant growth during the weekend of July 17-19, with the locally produced science-fiction survival thriller “Hope” commanding the top position. The film, directed by Na Hong-Jin and featuring an international cast including Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, Michael Fassbender, and Alicia Vikander, earned $11.3 million across 1,504,019 admissions while capturing 66.62% of the market’s total revenue. The narrative follows residents of a remote harbor village who encounter a mysterious alien entity, forcing their community into a struggle for survival.
According to data from KOBIS, the Korean Film Council’s tracking service, “Hope” benefited from extensive pre-release promotion and preview screenings, accumulating $16 million from approximately 2.1 million admissions in total. The runner-up position went to “Minions & Monsters,” which collected $2.1 million during its opening weekend, while Disney’s “Moana” moved to third place in its second outing with $1.2 million in weekend earnings. Pixar’s “Toy Story 5” maintained fourth place status, adding nearly $835,000 to its running total, which has now reached $19.1 million since its mid-June launch.
The psychological horror-remake “The Eyes,” directed by Yeom Ji-ho and starring Shin Min-ah and Kim Nam-hee, held fifth place with strong longevity into its fourth weekend of release. The faith-based animated musical “David” claimed sixth position, while the long-running thriller “Colony,” which arrived May 21, placed seventh with a cumulative gross reaching $42.2 million. The overall market generated $17.1 million for the weekend, representing a substantial increase from the previous week’s $8.2 million total.