[Weekend Theater] Min-a Shin’s “Eye Pupils” vs. “Toy Story 5” as the Weekend Box Office No. 1 Duel Heats Up

The weekend theater scene is buzzing with a clash between chilly K-mystery and warm Hollywood-style kid-at-heart wonder. Shin Min-a’s well-made thriller, Eye Pupils, knocked Disney and Pixar’s hit juggernaut, Toy Story 5, taking a commanding run to the top of the box office.

Jin-seo and In-seo Return—Min-a Shin’s Dominant One-Actor, Two-Roles Playbook Takes Over Theaters

According to data from the Korea Film Ticket Integration Network, the film Eye Pupils drew just over 50,000 viewers the previous day, posting a 31.5% share of sales to reclaim the domestic box office No. 1. Since its release on the 24th of last month, the cumulative audience count has reached about 482,000, proving with facts the runaway word-of-mouth surrounding the well-made thriller.

Directed by , the mystery thriller follows Jin-seo, a photographer who is losing his sight due to a hereditary disease, as he digs into the brutal truth surrounding the death of his younger sibling, In-seo. Above all, analysts say Min-a Shin’s one-actor, two-roles performance—switching seamlessly between Jin-seo and In-seo, and between diametrically opposed personas—has been the key engine behind the film’s momentum with both critics and audiences.

Meanwhile, Toy Story 5, which slipped to No. 2 at the box office, is not backing down. Drawing roughly 45,000 viewers the previous day, the film is currently tracking cumulative audiences of about 1.789 million. Armed with a strong global fan base, it is aiming squarely at recapturing the weekend throne. In fact, in terms of advance ticket sales rate, the film still holds the edge. As of 9 a.m. on the day, Toy Story 5 was at 32.3% (about 82,000), keeping its No. 1 position firmly, while Eye Pupils is chasing hard with 17.8% (about 45,000).

In addition, theater market share is being filled with a variety of genres. Yeon Sang-ho’s K-creature zombie movie The Colony rose to No. 3 with about 13,000 daily viewers, while Timothée Chalamet, currently a Hollywood mainstay, starred in Meaty Supreme, landing at No. 4 with around 10,000. Also, Na Hong-jin’s ambitious new work Hope, set to hit theaters on the 15th, has already logged a 7.3% advance ticket sales rate even before its release—emerging fast as a new box-office variable poised to shake up the latter-half theatrical slate.