After a quiet couple of weeks, a new hit opened last weekend, the melodrama MAUNDY THURSDAY, the story of a woman who wants to die and a man on death row who would much rather not. Directed by Song Hae-sung (FAILAN, RIKIDOZAN), MAUNDY was faulted by some film critics for being rather obvious. But for melodramas, obviousness is not always a failing. Anyhow, I have not seen it yet, so I should probably keep my snarky comments to myself.

Other notes… A disappointing opening for PUZZLE. The noir-ish crime drama had a pretty heavy push by Cinema Service, but nevertheless opened weakly. I’m guessing that it was too similar looking to WAR OF FLOWERS (타짜), which comes out next week (and looks to be a more interesting film).

Also, THE HOST is still chugging along. Looks like it will top the 13-million-attendance point in the next week.

This Week Title…………………………………. Release Date Screens Nationwide Weekend Attendance (Seoul only) Total Attendance
1. Maundy Thursday 9.14 520 297,800 1,204,400
2. Puzzle 9.14 235 52,600 178,800
3. Between Love and Hate 9.07 228 45,000 552,000
4. Like a Virgin 8.31 169 33,000 628,000
5. The Host 7.27 215 23,600 12,921,000
6. Sinking of Japan 8.31 203 17,000 916,600
7. Three Fellas 9.07 228 16,600 395,300
8. The Sentinel 9.07 90 10,100 154,900
9. United 93 9.07 58 4,000 73,000
10. No Mercy for the Rude 8.24 54 2,100 902,000

(source: Film 2.0)

(Note: Three Fellas was “Ttukbang Jeonseol” in last week’s box office chart)