FILMS
10:23 AM PDT 07/19/2020
by
Pamela McClintock
The solid performance of the film in selected Asian markets is good news for the film business amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho’s Peninsula – a follow-up to the 2016 zombie cult action movie Trains to Busan – Scored $ 19 million to $ 20 million on its international debut in a much-needed boost to the box office, according to early industry estimates.
That includes more than $ 13 million to $ 14 million in South Korea despite capacity constraints and current concerns amid the new coronavirus. The film was also released over the weekend in four other Asian markets, including Taiwan.
While cinemas remain closed in the US, cinemas in many regions abroad are reopening, albeit with established social distancing measures, such as tiered seating.
Yoen’s movie helped propel Imax to its first $ 1 million weekend box office since the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year, including $ 750,000 from 45 screens in all five Asian markets. South Korea led with $ 365,000 from 18 locations. That result is the fourth best opening weekend for a Korean local language title at Imax.
In Taiwan, 10 Imax screens returned $ 310,000, the second best debut on the circuit for a Korean movie.
In 2016 Trains to Busan dazzled with a global gross of $ 140 million. The sequel, set four years after the end of the previous disaster movie, is described as a post-apocalyptic movie about people struggling to escape the land ruined by the disaster.
Both films are from RedPeter Film and Next World Entertainment.
The European box office will also return. Over the weekend, the roadside thriller Russell Crowe Deranged debuted in Germany
Theaters in the US hoped to reopen later in the month in time for Deranged, which will debut in the country on July 31, and in preparation for Christopher Nolan Beginning on August 12 and Niki Caro Mulan On August 21.
However, an increase in coronavirus cases in several states makes that plan unlikely.
While it will continue to be deployed abroad, Deranged It is expected to delay its release in the US, where several key box office markets remain dark, including New York City and all of California. It is also speculated that Beginning may have to relocate. The late summer schedule also includes Sony’s romantic comedy The gallery of broken hearts, which is scheduled for August 7.
