‘Fantastic Beasts’ takes top spot at weekend box office

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) — “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a spinoff from the hit “Harry Potter” franchise, made its debut in South Korean theaters at No. 1 on the weekend box-office chart, data showed Monday.

According to real-time based box office figures from the Korean Film Council, the Warner Bros.’ adventure film topped the chart, selling over 1.4 million tickets over the Nov. 18-20 weekend.

The official promotional poster of the movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

The film, based on a screenplay by J.K. Rowling, follows Newt Scamander, an English magical zoologist, who joins a secretive group of wizards and witches in 1920s New York in search of fantastic beasts.

With the “Fantastic Beasts” sweeping 68.1 percent of total tickets sold in theaters, other films were relegated to single-digit shares in ticket sales.

Korean film “Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned” went up 12 places to second place with 208,170.

Starring Kang Dong-won, the fantasy melodrama depicts the story of a boy who mysteriously disappears when he goes to the mountains with his friend, only to return as a full-grown adult a few days later.

Another Hollywood fantasy adventure film “Doctor Strange,” which topped the chart for the past three weeks, slipped to No. 3 with 193,460 in attendance.

Coming in fourth and fifth places are the bowling-gambling film “Split” (96,841) and the comedy “Luck-Key” (49,533). Both are homegrown films.

The official promotional poster for “Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned”