Japanese animated feature Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island kept a lock on South Korea’s theatrical market in its fourth weekend, taking $2.5 million from 320,293 admissions across 1,115 screens. That gave the Toho-distributed fantasy 44.7% of the Oct. 23–25 frame, data from the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS tracking service showed.
Since opening on Sep. 30, the Nagano manga adaptation has accumulated $17.5 million from 2,248,137 admissions. The picture’s hold matters less as a single title’s win than as a market condition: with nearly half of weekend revenue attached to one family-skewing anime, every other release is competing for the remaining 55%.
A franchise holds share, not just screens
Chiikawa’s fourth-weekend share is not a typical frontloaded animation result. Sustained youth and family attendance kept it on a wide screen count while newer titles entered. For distributors, that changes weekend planning. A title with high share absorbs not only ticket revenue but also showtimes and marketing attention.
In second place, Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s) earned $520,822 from 68,241 admissions across 730 screens, a 9.2% share. The historical drama has faced defamation complaints and protests, but its cumulative total has still reached $25 million from 3,374,517 admissions since Sep. 23.
New releases land behind the holdover
CJ Entertainment’s Paradise Lost, directed and co-written by Yeon Sang-ho, opened third with $502,962 from 66,699 admissions across 803 screens. Its weekend share was 8.9%, and after an Oct. 21 midweek rollout its cume stands at $769,865 from 104,877 admissions.
Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ Clayface debuted fourth with $388,947 from 48,245 admissions across 655 screens, a 6.9% share. Since Oct. 21 it has grossed $595,460 from 77,153 viewers.
Here is the top five by weekend gross:
- Chiikawa the Movie – $2.5 million, 44.7% share
- The Assassin(s) – $520,822, 9.2%
- Paradise Lost – $502,962, 8.9%
- Clayface – $388,947, 6.9%
- Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub – $371,743, 6.6%
Overall, the market collected $5.6 million, down from $6.7 million a week earlier. That decline adds pressure to the frame’s numbers: even the top title’s hold did not stop the total from shrinking.
What the numbers mean
The contrast between Chiikawa’s stability and the new releases’ modest starts is the signal. Family animation with a built-in manga fandom can sustain a multi-week run when adult-skewing thrillers open below $550,000. Marketers planning theatrical windows should treat a strong holdover as a competitor with real screen control, not just another title in the chart.
For content buyers and exhibitors, the practical reading is to monitor share of screens as closely as gross. A release that keeps 1,115 screens in week four has downstream effects on showtimes, premium formats and marketing slots. Counterprogramming with a distinct audience, or opening midweek to bank admissions before the weekend, becomes the safer strategy.
Source: Variety
