Chiikawa sweeps Korea: 320,000 viewers in one weekend and approaching 2 million

The Chiikawa phenomenon is not letting up in South Korea. Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of Mermaid Island added 321,042 viewers between October 17 and 18, according to Korean Film Council (KOFIC) data reported by MK. With that result, the Japanese film remains at the top of the box office and has sold 1,828,919 tickets since its release.

Saturday was the strongest day: 174,784 people went to theaters. Sunday dropped to 146,258, but the gap with the rest of the releases remained huge. It needs about 170,000 more tickets to cross the two million mark, which seems to be a matter of days.

The comparison with the competition makes the scale of the success clear. The Killers, second in the ranking, drew 109,962 viewers in the same period. In other words, one in three people who went to the movies that weekend chose Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi.

A dominance that exposes the weakness of Korean cinema

The Killers had led the market during Chuseok, the autumn holiday, and has already surpassed three million total viewers. But its pace deflated: it went from filling theaters to moving just over 50,000 people per day. The Korean film, directed by several filmmakers in episodes, could not keep up against an animated offering that connects especially with family audiences.

Third place went to Tazza: The Song of the Beelzebub, with 72,663 tickets over the weekend and 1,910,193 total. It is also approaching two million, but at a slower rate: barely 36,000 viewers per day. Fourth place went to The Odyssey, the Hollywood blockbuster, which added 40,214 and is now near 12.27 million since its release.

The harshest figure comes from the box office itself: The Killers and Tazza together moved 182,625 people in two days. Less than Chiikawa did on its own. The Japanese film is not just winning: it is leaving local cinema in an uncomfortable position.

Presales point to more weeks at the top

The trend does not seem likely to change soon. On the morning of Sunday the 19th, Chiikawa led presales with 28.9% of reservations, about 48,296 tickets. Behind it was Lost in Paradise, the new film from Yeon Sang-ho, with 11.1%. Further back were Clayface, with 10.9%, Final Interview, with 7.3%, and The Odyssey, with 5.1%.

The film, based on Nagano's illustrated manga that is already a global social media phenomenon, repeats in Korea the pattern seen in Japan: adorable characters, simple stories, and an audience that goes as a family. The difference from other animated hits is that there is no action franchise or giant studio with decades of history behind it. There are three tiny creatures and a humor that works as well in a WhatsApp sticker as in a movie theater.

What remains to be seen is how long it holds. Presales are still high, but next week Yeon Sang-ho arrives with a proposal aimed at a different audience. If Chiikawa keeps up the pace, two million will fall before October ends. And with the word of mouth it has, it would not be strange for the final number to approach three.