Medical thriller spinoff Resurrection Man: The Red drew 42,872 viewers on its opening day, landing fourth behind imported anime leader Chiikawa and two Korean holdovers, while gambling sequel Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub pushed cumulative admissions past one million on 1 October—a split that shows National Foundation Day crowds choosing either franchise risk or family-friendly imports.
Opening-day math
Korean Film Council ticketholder data credited Resurrection Man with 51,675 cumulative viewers including previews, behind Assassin(s) at 1.77 million and Chiikawa’s 153,019 cumulative after a strong preview run. The Red’s R-rated positioning limited daytime family slots but won evening multiplex screens in Seoul’s Gangnam cluster.
Distributor marketers leaned on Grey’s Anatomy brand recognition for thirty-something viewers who skipped Assassin(s) political period setting. Social clips highlighted hospital gore beats that GRAC ratings boards flagged for seventeen-plus audiences.
Tazza milestone
Byeon Yo-han’s Tazza sequel reached 1.015 million admissions on its ninth day, unusual for an R-rated gambling plot during a week anime dominated overall revenue share. Cinema operators kept midweek matinees for the title because word-of-mouth held better than Resurrection Man among male twenty-somethings.
Holiday scheduling
Assassin(s) retained Korean-film presales above forty per cent of advance tickets even as Chiikawa topped combined charts—a pattern distributors expect to repeat through 3 October public holiday shows. Megaplex chains added late-night Resurrection Man sessions to capture post-dinner audiences unwilling to commit to three-hour historical drama.
What distributors watch next
Second-weekend drops will show whether The Red can hold screens against Digimon openings scheduled 3 October. Seoyeon Jung’s desk tracks whether import anime continues to cannibalise Korean mid-budget openings or only tops charts while local titles own cumulative revenue—because October slate depth depends on that split.
Presales skew
Megabox and CGV data show family presales clustering on Chiikawa morning shows while Assassin(s) owns date-night slots; programmers said they will not drop Korean holdovers until advance sales fall below fifteen per cent of screen share, protecting Assassin(s) room count through the holiday.
Import revenue share
Exhibitors told KOFIC that anime ticket revenue exceeded forty per cent of Thursday gross despite Korean films holding cumulative admissions—a split that affects how distributors negotiate minimum guarantees for December slates. The Red’s studio may shift marketing spend to streaming if second-week drops exceed fifty per cent, analysts said on cable business shows Friday morning.