Time traveling-fantasy-adventure movie “Alienoid 2” was a comfortable winner at the South Korea box office over the weekend. But with few fresh films on release the cinema-going market slowed.

“Alienoid 2” earned $2.06 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). That was down by 42% compared with its opening session a week earlier and leaves it with a total of $7.96 million after 12 days on release.

The first instalment of “Alienoid” was one of the biggest flops of 2022. It opened brightly with a $5.19 million weekend in July that year. But it suffered terrible reviews and finished with just $12.2 million.

Whether the second part does better than the first may be a matter of market timing and competition. January is usually a quiet month in Korean cinemas and the lack of blockbuster titles competing for screen space may help “Alienoid 2.”

The overall market...