I have this habit of searching the net each week to find out which movies are releasing this week in different countries (to be precise, in my countries of interests). In doing so I got this idea of opening a thread giving info on the new local language box office champs in those countries. I mentioned local language because many times hollywood movies become the no. 1 movie in those countries. Since the closure of Ihab’s weekend thread there have been hardly any discussions on new Korean, Jap, Chinese and HK movies, so may be the thread can be of some interests to those movie lovers. Last of all, I dedicate this thread to my friend Ihab and Reggie! Miss you guys!

North America:
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It was a slow but hard fought battle in the North American BO last weekend, with three films coming close to 1 million dollar of each other. The new number one movie is “End of Watch” earning $13.15 million. Directed by David Ayer and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña and Anna Kendrick the movie is earning great reviews (85% tomatometer score) and the charishmatic performances and carmaderie between the two lead stars are being widely appreciated.

End of Watch

Release Date: 21 September 2012 (USA)

Director: David Ayer

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Peña and Anna Kendrick

Story:

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Peña star as two beat cops working in Los Angeles. They spot something suspicious happening in a neighborhood known for drugs and decide to investigate, even though they are beat cops and not detectives. What they find is major, but it put them on the cartel’s most wanted list.

The 2nd and 3rd positions were occupied by Jennifer Lawrence starrer horror movie “House at the End of the Street” and Clint Eastwood starrer dramma “Trouble with the Curve”, earning $12.29 and $12.16 millions respectively.

South Korea:
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The first place at the Korean BO was occupied by last weeks no. 1 movie the lavish historical dramma “Masquerade”, earning $7.95 million, beating out the new release action-comedy “Spy” and “Resident Evil: Retribution”.

Masquerade

Release Date: 13 September 2012 (South Korea)

Director: Choo Chang-min

Stars: Lee Byeong-heon, Han Hyo-joo

Story:

The film takes the idea from the well-known fable ‘The Prince and The Pauper that and takes it to the 16th- century Joseon Dynasty. The king is the tragic historic figure of Gwanghae. The commoner comic performer Ha-Seon is recruited as a double for King Gwanghae who’s been targeted for assassination. All goes well until the actual king becomes incapacitated as a result of being poisoned, forcing Ha-Seon to reluctantly assume the role and, with the help of the king’s stoic chief advisor and chief eunuch fulfill his royal duties, and also realizes what is takes to be a good king.

China:
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Top movie at the Chinese BO is the historical dramma “White Deer Plain”. It earned $8.9 million over the weekend, beating out the new release Daniel Radcliffe starrer horror “The Woman in Black”, and holdovers Expendables 2 to take the week’s number one spot, the first time in a month that a Chinese film has taken that honor. Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises, and the Amazing Spider-Man rounded out the top five.

White Deer Plain

Director: Quan’an Wang

Stars: Fengyi Zhang, Kitty Zhang Yuqi and Gang Wu

Story:

Based on the novel of the same name by Chen Zhongshi, the film tells the story of two feuding families and their fierce struggle for land ownership during the first half of the 20th century.

The film competed in competition for the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, where Lutz Reitemeier won the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Achievement for his photography.

Despite being one of the most anticipated domestic films of the year, the film caused heated discussions in China, mainly centered around its accuracy with the book. Many fans of the book argued it couldn’t be adapted for the screen because there are too many characters (the book consists of 500,000 Chinese characters). Director Wang Quan’an’s film was originally a lengthy 220 minutes but has been cut down to just 156 minutes as it hits screens.

Japan:
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At Japanese BO, the top position went to “Resident Evil: Retribution”, and the at the second position and top of local movies remained “Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final”, earning $5.72 millions over the weekend. After three weeks of release, it has amassed $46.98 million in the local market.

Bayside Shakedown 4: The Final

 

Release Date: September 7, 2012 (Japan)

Director: Katsuyuki Motohiro

Stars: Yuji Oda, Toshiro Yanagiba, Eri Fukatsu.

Story:

Set 2 years after prior film “Bayside Shakedown 3: Set the Guys Loose,” a major case occurs that has the potential to take down the entire police organization. For the next 3 days, Shunsaku Aoshima (Yuji Oda) and his colleagues struggle to unravel the case of kidnap/murder which takes place at an International Environmental Summit.