Will "A Frozen Flower" Continue Box Office Lead for 3rd Wk?

With no particularly anticipated new film, eyes are on whether the domestic hit "A Frozen Flower (Ssanghwajeom)" can continue its box office lead for the third week.

The film opened Dec. 30. According to the integrated ticket sales network of the Korean Film Council, the film's share of ticket reservations was 25.4%, compared to 17.6% for the Hollywood animated film "Madagascar 2" and 15.8% for the domestic comedy "Speedy Scandal." On the ticket portal Interpark, "Flower" commanded 24.4% in reservations, higher than "Scandal" (21%) and "Madagascar 2" (12.6%).

"A Frozen Flower" has been running for the third week, "Madagascar" for the second week and "Scandal" is in its seventh week, but yet no new films are set to hit theaters, allowing the three way rivalry to continue this weekend.

Other movies ranking on the box office list are the action flick "Transporter III - The Last Mission" starring Jason Statham, Jim Carrey's comedy "Yes Man" and the Disney animation "Bolt."

Of particular note among the rankings list is the small-budget film "Old Partner" to be screened in only seven theaters nationwide. The Korean documentary by Lee Chung-ryoul is a story about an 80 year-old farmer and a 40 year-old cow, touching on themes of life, death and parting. The independent film competed in the Sundance Film Festival, a first for a Korean documentary.

"Old Partner" will mainly be screened in small art theaters but its reservation rate compares to those of other commercial films running on hundreds of screens at mega multiplex chains. Its ticket sales share the 5th rank on Interpark.com with 6% and a 7th place spot on Maxmovie.com with 2.6%.

Other new films include "Whatever Lola Wants," a film about an American girl succeeding as a belly dancer in Egypt, "Butterfly," a French film about the friendship of an old man and a boy, the wacky horror comedy "Teeth" and the screen version of a Japanese TV series entitled "Top Blade - The Movie."