Hollywood Tops Chinese Box Office for a Ninth Straight Weekend

  • Ninth consecutive weekend that a Hollywood import has sat atop China’s box office charts
  • Last Chinese film to top domestic box office was romance Book of Love after April 29 debut
  • Now You See Me 2 has grossed $83.5 M in China and just $58.7 M in North America
TMNT_Fans

Chinese fans of Teenage Mutant Turtles.

Paramount Pictures’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows surfed to an easy weekend victory at the Chinese box office despite just two days in theaters.

The sequel scored RMB 170 million ($26.2 million) from Saturday and Sunday ticket sales, eclipsing the Sino-Korean co-produced action film Bounty Hunters, which secured RMB 117 million ($18 million) in a three-day debut.

Out of The Shadows’ win this weekend marks the ninth consecutive weekend that a Hollywood import has sat atop China’s box office charts, helping Hollywood rebalance its market share to 47% of the January-June total box office.

The last local Chinese film to place number #1 was romance Book of Love which debuted all the way back on April 29.

Chinese moviegoers interested in more domestic flavors after months of Hollywood dominance will have their pick of several films starting Friday, including the China-Hong Kong co-production Cold War 2 as well the highly anticipated local animated features Rock Dog and Big Fish Begonia. CFI will have a full preview later in the week.

Back to this weekend’s performances: Hollywood sequels Now You See Me 2 and Independence Day: Resurgence both suffered worst-than-average drops in their second weekend. The Summit Entertainment sleight-of-hand heist flick fell 64% for RMB 102.6 million ($15.4 million) while Fox’s Resurgence tumbled 67% from its debut weekend for RMB 77.5 million ($11.6 million).

Despite complaints from Chinese moviegoers regarding outright pandering after the inclusion of Chinese products, performers, and locations, Now You See Me 2 has racked up $83.5 million in China compared to just $58.7 million in North America, while Resurgence’s $64.7 million China total is keeping pace with North America’s $72.9 million.