The Matt Damon film also had the biggest debut weekend for the month of October.

The Martian earned a massive $12.1 million in South Korea over the weekend, reaping almost half of the box-office revenue in the country over the period.

The fact that Friday was a national holiday helped boost figures, which marked the biggest opening of all time for Fox in the country.

The Matt Damon film, distributed by 20th Century Fox Korea, grabbed 48.3 percent of the three-day weekend market share, according to the Korean Film Council. This is also the biggest opening score for the month of October in the Asian country, whose population watches more films per year on average, more than four, than any other country in the world.

Hollywood films set in outer space have generally done well. The Martian also broke opening-day records previously held by Avatar and Interstellar, drawing a total of over 1.53 million admissions. Local industry observers in the country of a population of 50 million primarily measure a film's performance by theater attendance.

The successful debut of The Martian pushed The Intern down to No. 2. The Anne Hathaway-Robert De Niro comedy accounted for 15.3 percent of the box-office market share this weekend. Handled by Warner Bros. Korea, the film has so far earned a cumulative $15.8 million.

Local film The Advocate: A Missing Body debuted in third place as it reaped 13.8 percent of box-office revenue. The CJ Entertainment title has grossed about $4 million overall. Starring A Hard Day actor Lee Sun-kyun in the lead role, the crime actioner is about an ace advocate who is about to win a missing-body homicide case. Things take an unexpected turn, however, when his defendant, the primary suspect, suddenly confesses to the murder, and the lawyer suddenly finds himself having to defend his pride and stand up for justice.

Following the successful debuts of The Martian and The Advocate, homegrown period drama The Throne dropped two spots to finish in fourth place this weekend. The costume drama, which is Korea's entry for the foreign-language Oscar race, took 7.2 percent of sales that added to its gross total of over $4.1 million. The film set in the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) crossed 6 million admissions, making it the eighth best film of the year. Showbox/Mediaplex distributes the film, which was chosen as the opener for the Hawaii International Film Festival that kicks off on Nov. 12.

The Accidental Detective, a second CJ Entertainment title in the top ranks, finished at No. 5. This was two spots down from the previous week as the film accounted for 6.3 percent of the box-office total. The crime comedy's cumulative box-office revenue comes down to a little less than $17 million.