[KOREAN BOX OFFICE] ‘Secret Zoo’ top at box office, ‘Dolittle’ No. 3

Webtoon-turned-movie “Secret Zoo” topped the box office over the weekend with 467,583 tickets sold. The total is over 810,000 tickets since its release Wednesday.

The movie is about zoo workers who are wearing masks and outfits to look like animals in order to help save a zoo that’s on the verge of going out of business for a lack of animals.

Workers dress as a polar bear, a lion, a giraffe, a gorilla and a sloth, and had to keep their mouth shut so as to maintain the illusion.

They get into trouble when they forget they are acting, break character and act like humans.

The movie achieved sales of 4.1 billion won ($3.5 million) over the weekend to continue its run as the No. 1 movie since its release. The question is whether the movie will maintain its top position even over the Lunar New Year holiday.

The second most popular of the weekend was “Bad Boys for Life.” It attracted 231,056 visitors on Saturday and Sunday and achieved over 402,000 accumulated ticket sales since its release on Wednesday.

The Hollywood film with Will Smith achieved over 2.2 billion won in sales over the weekend and accumulated sales of 3.7 million won. It is the third in a series and will be followed by a fourth.

Next is “Dolittle,” with Robert Downey Jr. playing a character who can communicate with animals. The movie is about him taking an adventure to find a mysterious island.

It attracted 220,726 people to the large screen over the weekend with accumulated sales of over 1,454,000 tickets.

“Ashfall,” released on Dec. 19, remained strong and was the fourth popular movie for the weekend, followed by Hollywood’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”

Historical film “Forbidden Dream,” which is about King Sejong (1397-1450) and scientist Jang Yeong-sil of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), was ranked No. 6 in box office draw over the weekend.

Art film “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” which is from France, action movie “Midway” and animated “Frozen 2,” both from the United States, and Korean drama “Start-Up” are some other movies that made it into the top 10 list over the weekend.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. box office, “Bad Boys for Life” took the No. 1 spot, defeating “Dolittle,” which was in second place.

BY LEE SUN-MIN [summerlee@joongang.co.kr]