(Variety) “Ghost in the Shell” opened in China on top of the box office, but with the third weakest top score this year.
It recorded $21.6 million from some 90,000 screenings per day, according to date from Chinese data service Ent Group. Paramount reported that as $21.4 million from 7,600 locations.) Of that total, 389 IMAX theaters provided $2.5 million.
The score in China is better than the film’s opening of $18.6 million in North America one week ago. But the figure is on a par with the China opening of “A Dog’s Purpose” in March and better only than “Arrival” (on $7.30 million) and “Passengers” (on $14.8 million,) recorded in the dog days of January.
“Kong: Skull Island,” already the fifth best scoring film this year in China, placed second. It earned $11 million in its third weekend. That advanced its cumulative to $161 million after 17 days.
Chinese detective film “The Devotion of Suspect X” in third place hunted down $9.2 million. Its cumulative score after 10 days is $52.6 million.
“Extraordinary Mission” earned $3.57 million in fourth place for a cumulative of $20.5 million after 10 days. “The Missing” managed $1.54 million after 10 days.
Canadian animation, “Snowtime” took $1.47 million for $5.74 million after 9 days. Previous cart-topper, “Beauty and the Beast” added $1.21 million for a cumulative of $85.1 million after 24 days.
Hong Kong drama about mental illness “Mad World” played some 7,000 screenings per day and scored $620,000 in its opening three days. (Another Hong Kong indie film, “Weeds on Fire” also opened but only enjoyed a top ten place on its first day.)
“You Wan Mei Wan” in ninth place took $580,000 for a cumulative of $5.05 million after 9 days. “A Dog’s Purpose” took $300,000 to advance its 38 day cumulative to $87.9 million.
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater
