- Box Office
China Box Office June 18, 2023
The Flash opened in China on Friday, day and date with North America, with about 300 advance screenings on Tuesday and Wednesday. It premiered in Beijing on June 11 with fans arriving dressed as the characters in the film – Batman, The Flash and Supergirl – which contributed to the festive atmosphere, according to China Daily.
Though the film topped the box office on Friday with $4.41 million, it didn’t keep its first place on Saturday and Sunday, ceding those days to Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
The Flash grossed $5.72 million on Saturday and $4.20 million on Sunday. The movie, directed by Andy Muschietti, stars Ezra Miller and Sasha Calle, with Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton and an uncredited George Clooney reprising their Batman roles. In the story, Barry Allen goes back in time to try to save his mother.
Paramount and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One has landed a China release date, July 14, day and date with North America. While Top Gun: Maverick wasn’t released in China, Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout grossed $181 million in 2018. Part Two releases next year.
This weekend, four Hollywood films topped the China box office charts, with one more in the top ten.
As mentioned, Paramount Pictures’ Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ended the weekend at No. 1 with a total gross of $64.91 million over ten days and $12.97 million over the weekend, out-earning The Flash on Saturday and Sunday. Based on Hasbro’s toys, the seventh iteration of the franchise is directed by Steven Caple, Jr. and stars Anthony Ramos and Dominique Fishback. The previous film, Bumblebee, made 51% of its overseas box office in China alone for a total of $170 million in 2019.
Disney/Pixar’s Elemental opened in third position with a total gross of $5.49 million over three days. The animated film is a comedy set in an anthropomorphic world and is directed by Peter Sohn and features the voices of Leah Lewis, Mamoudou Athie and Catherine O’Hara.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ended at No. 4 with $43.49 million grossed over 17 days and $3.87 million over the weekend. Sony’s animated sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, voiced by Shameik Moore as Spider-Man and Hailee Steinfeld as Spider-Woman, follows their new adventures in the multiverse battling a powerful villain with the help of the Spider-People.
The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. The original film grossed $63 million in 2018.
The Chinese comedy Godspeed showed great staying power at No. 5 after 52 days of release. So far, it has earned $171.57 million with a weekend gross of $2.84 million.
The story of a prospective son-in-law trying to win over his fiancée’s father on a family road trip seems to be a fan favorite. It is directed by Xiaoxing Yi and stars Yuan Chang, Chengcheng Fan and Li Ma.
A Chinese romance drama in previews, Love Never Ends, took the sixth spot on Sunday with $1.85 million over two days with its Saturday opening.
The tenth in the franchise, Fast X, fell to No. 7 with $143.41 million grossed over 33 days. It will not out-earn F9 which grossed $216 million in China in 2021 – almost 30% of its international earnings – and more than the N. American total of $173 million.
The film is directed by Louis Leterrier with Vin Diesel leading an all-star cast. One more installment is due, Fast X Part II, in 2025.
The restored version of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s 1986 animated film, Castle in the Sky, is at No. 8 with $18.41 million grossed over 18 days. It was the first film from the animation studio, Studio Ghibli, co-founded by Miyazaki.
Born to Fly, the Chinese Top Gun wannabe is in ninth place with $124.13 million grossed over 52 days. The Japanese animated film, Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Sky Utopia, rounded out the top ten with $14.32 million over 18 days.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ended the weekend in twelfth place with $89.46 million over 45 days.
Source for all numbers: entgroup.cn