2nd week at top for ‘Maze Runner’

For two weeks in a row, “The Maze Runner,” a 20th Century Fox release about a group of young adults trapped in a mysterious labyrinth, has topped the country’s box office, according to the Korean Film Council yesterday.

In the last weekend of September, the action-mystery flick garnered 572,055 moviegoers, earning 12.4 billion won ($12.2 million) so far.

Keira Knightley’s musical drama “Begin Again” stayed in second place by selling 267,729 tickets, bringing its six-week total to 2,908,000.

It has made $18.7 million so far, surpassing the $16.1 million it earned back home in the United States, according to movie website Box Office Mojo.

With its outstanding score, “Begin Again” is close to breaking the No. 1 “diversity film” record, which has been maintained by Lee Chung-ryoul’s “Old Partner” since 2009 with an audience of 2.96 million.

“Diversity film” is a term coined by the Korean Film Council in 2007 to indicate indie, art-house and documentary films that are made on a low budget and occupy no more than 200 screens nationwide.

Domestic gambling flick “Tazza 2” stayed in the No. 3 spot with 132,868 ticket sales and Dakota Fanning’s coming-of-age film “Very Good Girls” debuted in fourth with 57,538.

The weird but fascinating dark comedy “Frank,” made by Irish director Lenny Abrahamson, debuted in ninth place by attracting 17,283 cinemagoers in its first week.

The music-filled film is about Frank, an indie band’s front man played by Michael Fassbender, who never takes off his giant papier-mache head.

The movie also stars Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal as other band members.

Remaining in the box office’s top 10 for four consecutive weeks since its opening, Hollywood action film “Lucy,” starring Korean actor Choi Min-sik, was in 10th with 15,089 moviegoers over the weekend, just short of the two million mark in accumulated ticket sales.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jes@joongang.co.kr]