(Variety) Social drama “Dying to Survive” continued its domination of the Chinese box office, despite a challenge from new revenge drama “Hidden Man.” “Dying to Survive’s” $68.5 million take was the highest outside North America this weekend and the second highest worldwide.
By contrast, big-budget Chinese fantasy “Asura,” which was seen as a potential franchise-launcher, limped to third place in its opening weekend with a meager score of $6.88 million. The film, one of the largest-budget movies ever made in China, will be withdrawn from release, producer Zhenjian Studio announced on social media. It may be re-released at a later date.
The race between the top two finishers was closest on Friday, when pharmaceutical story “Dying” earned $18.3 million, according to data tracker Ent Group. “Hidden Man,” the highly anticipated tentpole from director-actor Jiang Wen, earned $17.9 million on its opening day. But in subsequent days it slipped, finishing with $46.5 million after three days.
Within those totals, “Hidden Man” enjoyed 506 IMAX screens in China, earning $2 million. “Dying to Survive,” also sharing the IMAX circuit, earned $1 million from 391 screens. Its 10-day IMAX cumulative take stands at $9 million.
After 11 days, “Dying to Survive” has a cumulative of $366 million.
Locally made animation “New Happy Dad and Son 3: Russian Adventure” took $3.49 million in its second weekend for fourth place. After 10 days, it has a cumulative of $17.5 million.
A trio of other holdover titles clustered together for fifth, sixth and seventh places. “Animal World” held on for $1.3 million, lifting its cumulative to $71.9 million after 17 days. “The Incredibles 2” earned $1.21 million for $50.7 million after 24 days. “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” earned $1.11 million for a total of $249 million after 31 days.
Source: Variety By Patrick Frater
