(Variety) “Wolf Warriors II” narrowly won its fourth weekend at the Chinese box office ahead of a pack of new releases. It extended its record haul in China to $769 million after 25 days.
Data from local provider Ent Group show that “Wolf Warriors II” briefly lost its top box-office spot last Friday to “Paradox.” But on Saturday and and Sunday, the patriotic action sensation reclaimed the No. 1 ranking. Both films enjoyed about 70,000 screenings per day.
Every ticket sold pushes “Wolf Warriors II” further into the lead as the all-time biggest movie ever released in China. Its total is now 50% bigger than previous claimant “The Mermaid.”
This was also another weekend in which the top Chinese film outpaced the top film at the North American box office. Stateside winner “Hitman’s Bodyguard” earned $21.6 million.
Hong Kong-made crime actioner “Paradox,” which opened the Hong Kong Summer International Film Festival, was released last Thursday and scored $31.4 million over the weekend. It finished on $41.2 million after four days.
“Paradox” was one of several Chinese-language titles taking advantage of the final week of the blackout period in which major foreign movies cannot be released in China. Other new releases included documentary “Twenty Two,” animated franchise movie “One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes II,” the latest in the “Seer Movie” animated action series, and “Peace Breaker,” a crime actioner starring Aaron Kwok.
“Twenty Two” highlights the plight of Chinese and Korean women who were forced into prostitution during World War II by the Japanese army. It had its premiere at the Busan film festival in October 2015. Released nearly two years later last Monday, it earned $8.97 million over the weekend and finished its seven-day opening run with $18.7 million.
Backed by Tencent, comedy animation “Bad Jokes II” earned $8.28 million. Including previews, it has earned $8.78 million. “Seer Movie 6: The Invincible Puni” took fifth place over the weekend with $7.43 million. Including last week’s previews, it has a total of $9.38 million.
“Peace Breaker” earned $4.45 million in sixth place. Including its Thursday first day, it has $6.99 million over four days. Holdover title “Guilty of Mind” enjoyed $2.99 million over the weekend, for a 10-day cumulative total of $38.2 million.
Andy Lau-starring “The Adventurers” slumped to just $1.54 million in its second weekend. It s cumulative is a disappointing $34 million after 10 days.
BBC documentary “Earth: One Amazing Day” took ninth place with$1.23 million. After 10 days it has $4.71 million. Tenth spot belonged to “The War of Loong” with $560,000 over the weekend and $6.1 million after 16 days.
The blackout period is expected to end this Friday, with the release of “Cars 3,” “Baby Driver,” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater