Chiikawa Holds South Korea Box Office Lead With 42.7% Share

Chiikawa the Movie: The Secret of the Mermaid Island topped the South Korean weekend box office for Oct. 16–18, 2026, its third frame in theaters, according to KOBIS figures reported by Variety. The anime film earned $2.8 million from 378,474 admissions across 1,181 screens, taking 42.7% of the weekend market.

Since its Sep. 30 launch in South Korea, the film has grossed $14 million from 1,828,909 admissions. It is directed by Kei Oikawa and based on the manga by Nagano.

The Assassin(s) placed second with $1 million from 140,017 admissions across 1,104 screens, a 15.5% share. Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub was third in its fourth weekend with $731,309 from 94,314 admissions, and The Odyssey took fourth in its eleventh weekend with $580,011 from 52,439 admissions.

Whalefall debuted in fifth with $300,004 from 38,637 admissions, followed by Look Back in sixth with $194,574 in its second weekend. Guardians of the Video Game opened seventh with $165,350, Street Fighter debuted eighth with $122,148, The Mouths placed ninth with $110,302 and Reawakened Man rounded out the top ten with $73,714.

A softer weekend overall

The total weekend market gross was $6.7 million, down from $10.5 million the previous weekend. The Assassin(s), directed by Hur Jin-ho, opened on Sep. 23 and has crossed three million tickets with a cumulative gross of $23.7 million; the film has drawn protests, defamation complaints and a joint statement from 19 local film industry guilds defending cinematic expression.