Salmokji: Whispering Water Dominates South Korean Box Office with $2.4 Million Weekend Earnings
- The horror-thriller “Salmokji: Whispering Water” maintained its dominance at the South Korean box office during the weekend of Apr.
- The film secured a 39.29% revenue share for the weekend, continuing its strong performance since its Apr.
- Directed by Lee Sang-min, the film stars Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won as a road-view camera crew that encounters terrifying supernatural events at a remote reservoir in Yesan...
The horror-thriller “Salmokji: Whispering Water” maintained its dominance at the South Korean box office during the weekend of Apr. 24–26, 2026, earning $2.4 million from 343,461 admissions, according to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.
The film secured a 39.29% revenue share for the weekend, continuing its strong performance since its Apr. 8 release. As of the latest data, “Salmokji: Whispering Water” has reached a cumulative gross of $7.4 million from 1,067,497 admissions nationwide.
Directed by Lee Sang-min, the film stars Kim Hye-yoon and Lee Jong-won as a road-view camera crew that encounters terrifying supernatural events at a remote reservoir in Yesan County, South Chungcheong Province. The story follows a filming crew led by Soo-in (Kim Hye-yoon) who travel to complete a shoot within a deadline but become trapped in an inescapable, swamp-like terror at the locally infamous Salmokji Reservoir, long rumored to be a paranormal hotspot.
In second place for the weekend of Apr. 24–26, the Hollywood science-fiction epic “Project Hail Mary” earned $1.8 million, bringing its cumulative gross to $17.2 million since its Mar. 18 opening. The Ryan Gosling-starrer has now surpassed 2.3 million admissions.
The historical drama “The King’s Warden” placed third, adding $900,000 to its record-breaking total. The film has now attracted over 17.5 million cumulative admissions, solidifying its status as one of the most-viewed movies in South Korean cinema history.
“Salmokji: Whispering Water” marked the strongest opening weekend for a domestic horror film since the 2024 blockbuster “Exhuma,” outperforming recent genre entries such as “Dark Nuns” and “Noise.” Distributed by Showbox, the film continues to demonstrate sustained audience appeal in its third weekend of release.
The Korean Film Council’s KOBIS system tracks daily box office performance across South Korea, providing official admissions and revenue data used by industry analysts and distributors to assess film performance.