Korea Box Office: Anime Sensation ‘Chiikawa’ Dominates Weekend

Japanese animated phenomenon “Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island” tightened its grip on the South Korean box office over the weekend of Oct. 16–18, commanding more than 42% of nationwide ticket revenue in its third frame.

According to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council, the Toho-distributed fantasy feature generated $2.8 million from 378,474 admissions across 1,181 screens, accounting for a dominant 42.7% of the weekend market.

Directed by Kei Oikawa and adapted from the popular manga by Nagano, the animated adventure follows the titular small character and companions traveling to an island paradise before confronting a mysterious aquatic legend. The release has lifted its cumulative South Korean gross to $14 million from 1,828,909 total admissions since its Sep. 30 launch.

Director Hur Jin-ho’s controversial political crime thriller “The Assassin(s)” held second place, pulling in $1 million from 140,017 admissions across 1,104 screens to capture 15.5% of the weekend market. Distributed by Hive Media Corp, the period drama reconstructs the August 15, 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee and stars Yu Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Min-ho as investigators probing inconsistencies in the official state inquiry.

The production’s commercial run continues against persistent political blowback and legal challenges, with conservative civic organizations and bereaved family groups filing defamation complaints alleging historical distortion over its suggestion of internal state culpability in the shooting that killed First Lady Yuk Young-soo. Despite protests that previously disrupted promotional appearances and prompted 19 local film industry guilds to issue a joint statement defending cinematic expression, the title has crossed the three-million-ticket threshold, lifting its cume to $23.7 million from 3,249,174 admissions since its Sep. 23 rollout.

CJ ENM’s gambling crime drama “Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub” maintained third place in its fourth weekend, generating $731,309 from 94,314 admissions across 789 screens for a 10.8% share of receipts. Directed by Choi Kook-hee and starring Byun Yo-han, Noh Jae-won, and Ayaka Miyoshi, the fourth installment in the franchise has grossed $14.3 million from 1,911,190 viewers.

Universal’s “The Odyssey” finished in fourth place in its eleventh weekend, drawing $580,011 from 52,439 admissions across 481 screens to take 8.6% of the frame. The Christopher Nolan-directed epic pushed its haul to $104.1 million from 12,267,696 admissions since opening on Aug. 5.

20th Century Studios’ ocean survival thriller “Whalefall” debuted in fifth place, earning $300,004 from 38,637 admissions across 621 screens for 4.4% of the market. Since its mid-week rollout on Oct. 14, the film has accumulated $421,412 from 56,363 viewers.

Director Kore-eda Hirokazu’s live-action manga drama “Look Back” took sixth place in its sophomore frame, taking $194,574 from 24,614 admissions across 271 screens, bringing its cumulative run to $829,170 from 105,345 viewers.

Locus Animation’s local animated adventure “Guardians of the Video Game” opened in seventh place, collecting $165,350 from 22,427 admissions across 566 screens. Adapted from Gasfard’s popular Naver webtoon, the animated fantasy follows an elite game-world administrator demoted to managing a retro mobile video game, generating $295,340 from 42,647 admissions since its Oct. 14 premiere.

Paramount Pictures and Legendary Entertainment’s video game adaptation “Street Fighter” debuted in eighth place with $122,148 from 16,813 admissions across 523 screens. The live-action franchise reboot has grossed $238,799 from 34,920 admissions following its Oct. 14 bow.

Japanese supernatural chiller “The Mouths,” directed by Takashi Shimizu, took ninth place in its second weekend, earning $110,302 from 14,991 admissions across 245 screens for a cumulative total of $569,462 from 77,114 viewers.

Rounding out the top ten, Lotte Entertainment’s action fantasy “Reawakened Man,” starring Koo Kyo-hwan, took $73,714 from 10,211 admissions across 292 screens, lifting its total to $2.4 million from 326,734 admissions.

The overall market collective gross for the weekend was $6.7 million, down from last week’s $10.5 million.