Hur Jin-ho’s The Assassin(s) led South Korea’s box office over the Chuseok holiday weekend, amid a slate of new releases including a long-awaited Tazza sequel and Lee Chang-dong’s Possible Love.
Hur’s historical thriller drew 1,119,154 admissions and earned $8.2m over the three-day weekend (September 25-27) with a revenue share of almost 41%, according to Korean Film Council tracking service Kobis. Since its release on September 23, the film has recorded 1,566,220 admissions and earned $11.5m.
After less than a week, it is the 15th biggest film of the year at the local box office.
Inspired by the 1974 assassination attempt on then South Korean president Park Chung-hee, it stars Yoo Hae-jin from box office phenomenon The King’s Warden as a detective and Pachinko’s Lee Min-ho as a rookie reporter. Produced by Hive Media Corp, it premiered at Toronto earlier this month.
The film has already doubled the takings of Hur’s previous film, A Normal Family, which grossed $4.4m from 650,336 admissions in 2023.
Ranking second over the holiday weekend was Tazza: The Song Of Belzebub, which earned $4.3m from 566,527 admissions for a cume of $6.3m from 833,031 admissions.
Released on September 23, it marks the fourth and final instalment in the long-running Korean crime franchise, which began with Tazza: The High Rollers in 2006. The latest film stars Byun Yo-han and Roh Jae-won as best friends-turned-enemies, set against the background of the international poker circuit.
Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey dipped to third place, earning $3.3m from 364,763 admissions for a massive cume of $98.4 from 11.8 million admissions. It is South Korea’s second highest-grossing release of 2026, only behind local smash The King’s Warden.
The Korean remake of The Intern, starring Choi Min-sik and Kim Ki-ho, fell from the top spot to fourth place in its second week, adding $1.5m from 206,349 admissions for a cume of $5.5m and 756,059 tickets sold.
Lee Chang-dong’s Venice award-winner Possible Love rounded out the top five, grossing $569,648 from 72,022 admissions for a cume of $908,728 from 115,938 admissions since opening on September 23.
It proved a strong performance for the relationship drama given the limited nature of the release – 192 screens over the weekend compared to 1,516 screens for The Assassin(s).
Lee’s biggest box office hit to date is Secret Sunshine, which took $7.6m in 2007. His previous film, Burning, grossed $3.5m in 2018. South Korea has submitted the film to the international feature film category of the upcoming Oscars and will be available to stream on Netflix from November 6.
Curry Barker’s horror Obsession slipped from third to sixth place on its fourth outing, adding $553,833 from 67,619 admissions for a cume of $6.7m and 849,155 tickets sold.
Marvel’s Avengers Endgame: Encore – released with additional footage ahead of Avengers: Doomsday – opened in seventh, earning $562,458 from 63,274 admissions for a cume of $961,578 and 107,951 admissions since its release on September 23.
Sony’s Resident Evil reboot fell to eighth in its second week, earning $297,288 from 36,457 admissions for a cume of $1.5m and 186,948 admissions.
Also from Sony, Spider-Man: Brand New Day dropped to ninth on its ninth weekend, adding $157,939 from 22,278 admissions for a cume of $68.9m from 9.03 million admissions.
Rounding out the top 10 was a theatrical release of animated children’s series Octonauts: Above and Beyond – Season 2, which earned $91,426 from 12,636 admissions for a cume of $127,689 and 17,779 admissions.
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