South Korean Box Office: ‘The Pirates’ Tops Record-Breaking ‘Roaring Currents’

The long-standing domination of the South Korean box office by The Admiral: Roaring Currents (aka Roaring Currents) has come to an end, as The Pirates rose to first place place over the weekend.

The Pirates, which is considered the local equivalent of The Pirates of the Caribbean, accounted for 35.2 percent of ticket sales from Aug. 22-24. The film crossed 6 million admissions on Monday, topping films such as Transformers: Age of Extinction (sixth most seen film with 5.29 million admissions) to become the fourth-most-watched title of 2014. In financial terms, the film has cashed in a total $45.5 million as of Monday, according to the Korean Film Council’s KOBIS.

Though The Admiral: Roaring Currents stepped down to second place, it continues to push local records. It crossed 16 million admissions on Sunday; the top films in Korean box-office history, including Avatar and local title The Thieves, have brought in about 13 million admissions. Korean offices use admissions as their primary measure.

The Admiral: Roaring Currents is expected to top Avatar in sales too, as it has so far grossed $123.66 million. Avatar cashed in around $125.69 in 2009-2010. The maritime epic starring Lucy star Choi Min-sik accounted for over 29.9 percent of the market share over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Hollywood romances are drawing crowds, with The Fault in Our Stars taking third place ($4.36 million) and the newly released Begin Again ending up fifth ($2.92 million). Haemoo, a local thriller that will receive a gala presentation at Toronto next month, took fourth place ($10.68 million, 1.37 million admissions).

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