The horror movie “Exhuma,” which has been ruling the charts for seven weeks, took a hit on Wednesday when DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” made its local box office debut with the highest opening score of the year.
On Wednesday, the official election day, the most recent entry in the popular anime series sold about 429,000 tickets, earning 3.97 billion won ($2.91 million). This opens with more revenue than “Exhuma,” which set the previous record this year with over 330,000 tickets sold and 3 billion won in revenue.
Additionally, “Kung Fu Panda 4” had the best opening of the movie series. On opening day, 105,000 tickets were sold in the first installment, 130,000 in the second, and 222,000 in the third.
Under the direction of Mike Mitchell, the comedy-adventure picture centers on Jack Black’s huge panda Po, who has been selected to be the Dragon Warrior of prophecy. He has to train new fighters after ascending to the position of spiritual leader in the Valley of Peace.
However, he partners up with a cunning corsac fox named Zhen (Awkwafina) to fend off the villain when a formidable shape-shifting sorcerer named The Chameleon (Viola Davis) emerges and utilizes her abilities to copy the powers of kung fu masters. All the while, they find heroes in the most unlikely places.
The biggest blockbuster of the year, “Exhuma,” debuted on the box office on Wednesday, taking the second place after ruling the list for 47 days since its release on February 22.
Despite only selling roughly 70,000 tickets on Wednesday, the movie brought in 702 million won. Eleven4.66 million tickets have been sold, bringing in 110 billion won.
For the first time this year in just over a month, director Jang Jae-hyun’s most recent mystery-occult thriller dominated the local box office, grossing over 10 million admissions. It turned into this year’s biggest smash and the 19th highest-grossing movie ever.
It has gained popularity abroad as well; since its March 15 premiere, it has sold over 2.36 million tickets, making it the highest-grossing Korean picture ever in Vietnam.
The movie centers on two young shamans who work together to investigate strange happenings involving an affluent American family: a feng shui specialist and a mortician. In their efforts to unravel the mystery, they excavate the grave of a family ancestor and unearth darker, more profound secrets.
At the movie office over the holiday, the Japanese romantic picture “The Last 10 Years” came in third place, surpassing the criminal film “Troll Factory,” which had come in second the day before with “Exhuma.”
“The Last 10 Years,” which debuted in May of last year and was reopened on April 3 in theaters, brought in 364 million won from ticket sales.
The romantic movie, directed by Michihito Fujii, centers on a girl who has an irreversible illness and only has ten years to live. When she meets a man during a school reunion, her resolve to avoid falling in love during her final year of education is challenged.