This past weekend told two very exciting stories across Asia’s biggest film markets. In mainland China, Stephen Chow’s ‘Kung Fu Soccer’ did something almost unheard of, it had a bigger second weekend than its opening while in South Korea, director Na Hong-jin made one of the most anticipated returns in recent Korean cinema history with ‘Hope’, which swept to number one on its very first weekend. Here is everything that happened across both markets during the weekend of July 17 to 19.
‘Kung Fu Soccer’ did the opposite in a market where most films shed at least half their opening business in the second weekend. The film earned $73.7 million over the July 17-19 frame marginally topping its two-day debut of $73.6 million from the previous weekend, spread this time across three days. Its cumulative total now stands at $214.3 million in just nine days. The response has been so strong that ticketing giant Maoyan has raised its full-run China forecast from $368 million to $441 million. If it reaches that number, it will finish just short of Stephen Chow’s own all-time personal record of over $500 million, set by his fantasy comedy ‘The Mermaid’ back in 2016.
The new release of the weekend in China was ‘All Wishes Come True’, an animated tentpole from Pearl Studio, the Beijing outfit formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, whose credits include ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ and the Oscar-nominated ‘Over the Moon’. Written and directed by Mu Zhengyang, the film reimagines the classic Chinese folk tale of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, following ordinary individuals who outwit the gods to earn their legendary titles. It opened Saturday and brought in $30.6 million over two days taking its early total to $39.6 million including previews. Pearl and partner CMC Pictures have set a global rollout beginning August 13 in Australia and New Zealand, with the US, Canada, UK and other markets following from August 14.
Female friendship drama ‘A Part of Me’, a Chinese remake of the 2015 Toni Collete and Drew Barrymore film ‘Miss You Already’, opened in third place with $13.6 million. ‘Minions & Monsters’ held in fourth in its third weekend with $3.7 million, nudging its China cumulative to $40.3 million. In an unexpected addition to the chart, Christopher Smith’s 2009 time-loop thriller ‘Triangle’, a long-standing cult favourite among Chinese moviegoers arrived in mainland cinemas for the first time and opened fifth with $3.7 million. China’s overall 2026 year-to-date box office now stands at $2.97 billion, down 35.3 percent from the same point last year ,a gap that has been narrowing steadily as the summer season builds.
In South Korea, the weekend belonged entirely to ‘Hope’. The sci-fi blockbuster from director Na Hong-jin making his long-awaited returns decade after ‘The Wailing’ debuted at number one with 1,504,013 admissions over the weekend, taking its total to 2,129,720 admissions by Sunday. It broke the 2 million admission mark on its fifth day of release, the fastest any film this year has reached that milestone in Korea. The film follows police officers and villagers in the remote coastal town of Hopo as they become caught up in a series of spiralling events after encountering mysterious and powerful extraterrestrial beings. The cast features Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Jung Ho-yeon, alongside Hollywood actors Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander. The film also competed at this year’s Cannes Film Festival before its Korean release.
‘Minions & Monsters’ made its South Korean debut this weekend in second place, attracting 308,576 admissions over the frame and 374,785 total. ‘Moana’ held in third place with 173,555 admissions. ‘Toy story 5’ came in fourth place with 114,718 admissions in its fifth weekend in the country. Mystery thriller ‘The Eyes’ remains in fifth and zombie blockbuster ‘Colony’ held in seventh place.
Two very different weekends across two very different markets but in both, local stories are leading the way.
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