KBO: Masquerade Is King, Pieta Enjoys Golden Lion Bump (09/14-09/16, 2012)

Masquerade Is King, Pieta Enjoys Golden Lion Bump 

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Masquerade	9/13/12	53.30%	1,097,619	1,278,064	809
2	Resident Evil 5 (us)	9/13/12	14.30%	245,915	304,150	368
3	Pieta	9/6/12	7.20%	148,163	353,379	325
4	The Bourne Legacy (us)	9/6/12	6.50%	135,767	913,877	345
5	Traffickers	8/29/12	4.60%	92,289	1,534,579	305
6	Wolf Children (jp)	9/13/12	3.40%	77,796	85,933	225
7	The Expendables 2 (us)	9/6/12	2.50%	53,444	416,236	253
8	Neighbors	8/22/12	2.00%	40,285	2,416,188	222
9	The Thieves	7/25/12	1.50%	32,033	12,923,537	194
10	Insidious (us)	9/13/12	1.30%	27,488	35,030	178

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KBO: Hollywood Titles End Late Summer Local Streak (09/07-09/09, 2012)

Hollywood Titles End Late Summer Local Streak

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Bourne Legacy (us)	9/6/12	29.30%	522,713	619,128	588
2	Traffickers	8/29/12	17.60%	302,258	1,315,355	385
3	The Expendables 2 (us)	9/6/12	13.30%	240,675	278,494	394
4	Neighbors	8/22/12	12.00%	206,259	2,298,476	346
5	The Grand Heist	8/8/12	7.70%	144,076	4,833,965	312
6	The Thieves	7/25/12	7.20%	129,060	12,836,869	323
7	Pieta	8/6/12	3.30%	58,061	68,090	171
8	Step Up 4 (us)	8/15/12	2.50%	45,369	931,745	149
9	Abrahama Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (us)	8/30/12	1.90%	31,749	333,276	230
10	Sammy's Adventures 2 (ge)	8/1/12	0.80%	14,750	1,454,392	107

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WKR: Pieta Bows at Venice, New Releases and KOFFIA (08/31-09/06, 2012)

A slew of reviews from all manner of sources this week including many for Kim Ki-duk's latest Pieta.

CURRENT RELEASES

577 Project

(Joong Ang Daily, September 5, 2012)

Neighbors

(Modern Korean Cinema, September 5, 2012)

Pieta

(Cine-Vue, September 6, 2012)

(Indiewire, September 4, 2012)

(The Hollywood Reporter, September 3, 2012)

(The Korea Times, September 6, 2012)

R2B: Return to Base

(KKonnect, September 2, 2012)

Young Gun in the Time

(Modern Korean Cinema, August 30, 2012)

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Neighbors (이웃사람, Yiwootsaram) 2012

Recently, the prevalence of ensemble casts in Korean cinema has been on the rise. It could mean a few things. For one, it’s a sign of a healthy industry with a large production slate and a wide pool of talent. Secondly, it could also be a result of the dwindling fortunes of star-driven features at the box office. Studios may feel safer investing in a film with an array of stars capable of drawing in multiple demographics, especially when reliable properties such as Song Kang-ho (Howling, 2012) and So Ji-sub (Always, 2011) are no longer capable of securing a film a profit.

Last month, The Thieves showed how powerful an impact a well-assembled cast can make on the box office. It is currently the second highest-grossing Korean film of all time and may well ascend to first place (as of this writing held by 2006’s The Host) within the next few weeks. While it had many selling points, first and foremost was its glitzy performers. What then is the appeal of an ensemble cast? From a marketing standpoint it means that a potential viewer is far more likely to see someone that he or she likes in a longer list of stars but perhaps even more enticing is the appeal of the interaction between high-profile cast members who often sport defined on-screen personas.

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KBO: Traffickers and Local Releases Dominate Chart (08/31-09/02, 2012)

Traffickers and Local Releases Dominate Chart

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Traffickers	8/29/12	26.40%	533,243	749,694	497
2	Neighbors	8/22/12	21.20%	425,597	1,914,969	494
3	The Grand Heist	8/8/12	13.20%	289,126	4,595,784	361
4	The Thieves	7/25/12	12.70%	265,435	12,591,574	365
5	Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (us)	8/30/12	10.00%	188,955	237,799	337
6	Step Up 4 (us)	8/15/12	4.40%	94,188	849,187	194
7	R2B: Return to Base	8/1/12	2.30%	51,498	1,172,907	141
8	577 Project	8/8/12	2.30%	48,395	62,534	191
9	Total Recall (us)	8/15/12	1.60%	34,037	1,206,506	153
10	Sammy's Adventures 2 (ge)	8/23/12	1.30%	29,268	1,438,477	88

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WKR: Neighbors, R2B and Ample KOFFIA Coverage

Lots of current films reviewed in this week's WKR and a wide selection of recent releases, largely stemming for the ample KOFFIA coverage.

CURRENT FILMS

577 Project

(The Korea Times, August 30, 2012)

Grape Candy

(Joong Ang Daily, August 24, 2012)

Neighbours

(Seongyong's Private Place, August 26, 2012)

R2B: Return to Base

(allkpop August 25, 2012)

(The LA Times, August 23, 2012)

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KCN: Oscar Shortlist, Festival News and Trailers (08/23-08/29, 2012)

Oscar news this week and a number of festival items, not to mention posters and trailers.

KOREAN CINEMA NEWS

KOFIC Announces Shortlist for 2013 Oscars
A team is being assembled by the Korean Film Council to deliberate over the merits of five recent Korean features hoping to become to next selection to represent the nation in the Foreign-Language Oscar race. This year's contenders include Im Sang-soo's Taste of Money, Hong Sang-soo's In Another Country, Kim Ki-duk's Pieta (which is having its world premiere next month at Venice, the gangster pic Nameless Gangster and Lee Byung-hyun period drama Masquerade, which opens next month in Korea.

Over the past few years there has been some consternation regarding the eventual picks, which have included Crossing (2008), A Barefoot Dream (2010) and The Front Line (2011). Films that seemed to have far better potential have been passed over, such as Lee Chang-dong's Poetry or the popular hit Sunny. This year's crop does not inspire a great deal of confidence (though few have seen the latter two yet) and imagine that 2013 will be another year without a Korean Oscar nominee. To date not a single Korean film has ever been selected. (Modern Korean Cinema, August 29, 2012)

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KBO: Neighbors Tops Korea-Heavy Chart (08/24-08/26, 2012)

Neighbors Tops Korea-Heavy Chart

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	Neighbors	8/22/12	31.10%	780,556	1,094,081	600
2	The Grand Heist	8/8/12	20.10%	537,099	4,106,828	515
3	The Thieves	7/25/12	19.80%	513,409	12,094,680	544
4	R2B: Return to Base	8/15/12	6.80%	182,718	1,059,543	331
5	Total Recall (us)	8/15/12	6.60%	172,453	1,111,574	321
6	Step Up 4 (us)	8/15/12	6.50%	164,872	672,959	269
7	Sammy's Adventures 2 (be)	8/1/12	2.60%	71,952	1,401,327	244
8	Animals United (ge)	8/8/12	1.10%	33,674	275,373	115
9	The Dark Knight Rises (us)	7/19/12	1.30%	29,475	6,359,420	81
10	Red Lights (us)	8/23/12	1.10%	29,341	38,204	197

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KBO: The Thieves Takes 4th Victory Lap (08/17-08/19, 2012)

The Thieves Takes 4th Victory Lap

	Title	Release Date	Market Share	Weekend	Total	Screens
1	The Thieves	7/25/12	26.80%	835,299	11,127,705	621
2	The Grand Heist	8/8/12	25.80%	823,796	3,178,770	582
3	Total Recall (us)	8/15/12	14.10%	432,185	782,718	448
4	R2B: Return to Base	8/14/12	12.60%	394,774	726,844	540
5	Step Up 4 (us)	8/15/12	6.80%	201,256	371,553	281
6	Sammy's Adventures 2 (be)	8/1/12	4.60%	146,002	1,290,233	296
7	I Am a King	8/8/12	2.50%	82,214	723,960	222
8	The Dark Knight Rises (us)	7/19/12	2.50%	72,094	6,293,588	182
9	Ice Age 4 (us)	7/25/12	1.70%	57,516	1,591,314	167
10	Animals United (gr)	8/8/12	1.30%	43,965	225,967	131

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August 2012 Korean Releases

This monthly features previews the coming month's attractions in Korean cinema. All of these monthly posts are available in an archive on the Upcoming Releases page.

August 2

Plump Revolution

August 8

I Am a King
Tears in the Antarctic
The Grand Heist

August 15

R2B: Return to Base

August 23

90 Minutes
Myselves
Neighbors

August 30

577 Project
The Traffickers
The Ugly Duckling
Wedding Scandal
Young Gun in the Time

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