'Avatar: The Way of Water' tops box office for 2nd week

Movies 09:50 December 26, 2022

By Kim Eun-jung

SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Yonhap) -- "Avatar: The Way of Water" stayed on top of the South Korean box office for the second consecutive week, attracting a cumulative 5 million viewers, data showed Monday.

James Cameron's sequel to his 2009 sci-fi blockbuster registered 1.9 million admissions from Friday to Sunday, the second weekend of its release, accounting for 68.7 percent of the overall ticket sales for the period, according to the data from the Korea Film Council (KOFIC).

The poster of "Avatar: The Way of Water" is displayed at a movie theater in Seoul on Dec. 20, 2022. (Yonhap)

Released on Dec. 14, "Avatar 2" has since dominated the daily and weekly box-office charts. It surpassed 4 million admissions on its 11th day on Christmas Eve and added another 1 million on Christmas.

The sequel has sold tickets at a faster pace than the original "Avatar," which surpassed the 5 million mark in its first 15 days.

"Avatar" attracted 13.6 million moviegoers in South Korea in 2009 to become the most-viewed foreign movie released here of all time. It also remains the highest-grossing film of all time with $2.9 billion in global ticket sales.

"Hero," a Korean musical film about independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun released on Dec. 21, came in second by attracting 600,400 viewers over the weekend.