Dec 16, 2008

[4.12] Korean box office waves hello to "Schoolgirl" Audiences flock to romantic drama in week dominated by local releases




SEOUL – Local romantic drama "Hello, Schoolgirl" dominated the Korean box office over the weekend.

Pic took $1.47 million from its four day opening on 455 screens handled by CJ Entertainment. Based on a popular comic strip, the film stars Yoo Ji-tae ("Oldboy") and Lee Youn hee ("M") helmer Ryu Jang-ha ("When Spring Comes").

Previously topping the box office for two consecutive weeks, "A Portrait of Beauty" slipped down to No.2 in its third weekend. Pic added $1.05 million in its third frame for a cume of $7.74 million.

Bond film "Quantum of Solace" continued its strong overseas showing adding $558,000, with total Korean grosses at $9.2 million to date.

The Julianne Moore-starrer "Blindness" took fourth place in its second weekend. Thanks to the popularity of the original novel in Korea, film grossed $541,200 from 289 screens.

Local pics, "Antique," "Overspeed Scandal" and "My Wife Got Married" charted at No.5, 6 and 9 respectively.

Foreign imports "Max Payne" and the Hong Kong thriller "Connected" dropped down to No.7 and No.8 respectively in their second weekend. "Max Payne" grossed $985,600 from 224,000 admissions on 185 screens to date, while "Connected" took its cume to $726,000 from 165,000 admissions on 252 screens handled by SK Telecom.

At No.10, Swedish vampire pic "Let the Right One In" showed an impressive performance, grossing $272,800 from a mere 42 screen release.

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