Foreign films had a strong run at the South Korea box office in the month of May, according to statistics from the Korean Film Council.

Accounting for four of the top five grossing films of the month, foreign films took a market share of 65.4% in May. They earned a total of ₩98.7 billion (US$87.1 million) from 12.21 million admissions, marking a month-on-month increase of 25% and 22.3%, respectively.

On the other hand, local films earned ₩16.4 billion (US$14.5 million) from 6.47 million admissions, representing a month-on-month decrease of 22.7% and 24.3%, respectively.

Total revenue for the month was ₩149.6 billion (US$131.5 million) with 18.68 million admissions, representing a month-on-month increase of 1.1% and 3%, respectively. According to KOFIC, this year saw the highest number of admissions for the month of May on record.

The highest grossing film of the month was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (₩23.4 billion (US$20.6 million) from 2.73 million admissions), followed by local comedy The Sheriff in Town (보안관) (₩20.808814009 billion (US$18.4 million) from 2.58 million admissions), The Boss Baby (₩18.2 billion (US$16.1 million) from 2.35 million admissions), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (₩15.3 billion (US$13.5 million) from 1.86 million admissions), and Get Out (₩15 billion (US$13.2 million) from 1.84 million admissions).

Walt Disney Korea had the largest market share for the month (counted by admissions) with 24.9%, followed by CJ Entertainment with 22.7% and Lotte Entertainment with 13.8%.

Korean films had a much stronger market share earlier in the year – 48.9% in January and 58.6% in February – but it felt to 31.5% in March and 38.2% in April. May marks the third month that it has remained in the 30% range.

Things are expected to improved slightly in June with Next Entertainment World’s The Villainess (악녀) as well as CGV Arthouse’s Our President (노무현입니다) and A Day (하루). However, 20th Century Fox Korea’s Warriors of the Dawn (대립군) was a major flop and NEW’s Okja (옥자) is being hit with a boycott by all three of the nation’s cinema chains.