(THR) Local comedy Never Say Die dominated China's Golden Week autumn holiday period this year.
The body-swapping comedy from Mahua Funage, a Beijing theater troupe turned box-office powerhouse, earned $65.3 million in its second weekend, taking its nine-day total to a massive $220 million. The blockbuster pulled in around $25 or more every day of the weeklong holiday, nearly tripling the individual totals of the various local titles that trailed it.
The film will easily surpass Goodbye Mr. Loser, Mahua's debut release, which wildly surpassed expectations by earning $226 million in 2015.
Jackie Chan's gritty English-language thriller The Foreigner slipped to third place in its second weekend, earning $15.2 million behind Hong Kong martial arts drama Chasing the Dragon with $17 million. A U.K.-China co-production, backed by STX Entertainment, The Foreigner has earned $67 million after nine days. That's well below Chan's recent martial arts action comedies, such as Kung Fu Yoga ($254.5 million) and Railroad Tigers ($101.5 million), but it's less surprising given that the foreign-themed thriller sits far outside Chan's usual family-fun wheelhouse.
Although it's nudged ahead in daily earnings recently, Chasing the Dragon, which stars Donnie Yen and Andy Lau, is still a step behind The Foreigner for the full holiday period, with its nine-day total sitting at $59.7 million as of Monday.
Musical movie City of Rock, directed by and starring Chengpeng Dong (Jian Bing Man, $186 million in 2015), added $12 million in its second weekend. After 10 days, it has earned $38.7 million.
Fan Bingbing's patriotic air force movie Sky Hunters is the fifth-place finisher for the holiday, having earned $10.6 million in its second frame and $37.8 million overall.
STX Entertainment will be back in the China market later this week, with the studio's local partner Huayi Brothers set to release The Space Between Us on Friday.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by