Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuted on Chinese screens on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, to $3.47 million in box office grosses, according to Chinese data site Maoyan, landing in third place on the day but ending the weekend in sixth place with $12.04 million over its six-day run so far.

Wakanda Forever’s lifetime earnings are projected to be around $17 million, far less than the $105 million earned by the original film in 2018.

Since the film has already been in worldwide release for a couple of months, it is likely that piracy will have cut into its receipts, as well as the competition from domestic blockbusters.

Antman and the Wasp: Quantumania will open on February 17 day and date worldwide, including in China, and it remains to be seen if it will perform better. So far, in an unofficial poll on the Maoyan site, 328,507 fans have indicated an interest in seeing it.

Shazam! Fury of the Gods will also release day and date in China on March 17.

In other relevant news, the National Defense Authorization Act, recently passed by Congress last December, has a provision that prohibits the Defense Department from cooperating with any Hollywood film production that seeks “preapproval of the content” from the Chinese censors or “modifies or deletes in any way the content of the project as a result of any direction from any entity of China’s government or its Communist party.”

The military approves screenplays submitted to it before it aids any production with equipment, technical know-how and personnel, significantly reducing production costs for the film. The US Defense Department provided F-18 fighter jets to Top Gun: Maverick. (In what seemed like Chinese appeasement, the 2019 trailer for the movie showed the Tom Cruise character’s flight jacket with its Taiwanese flag patch removed. It was restored when the film did not release in China.)

The Ironman movies and Captain America: The First Avenger also received military support.

Here are the top ten films for the weekend of February 10-12, 2023.

The Wandering Earth 2 reclaimed the top spot from Full River Red over the weekend, with a three-day total of $24.67 million and a total gross of $542.39 million over 22 days. (TWE2 has earned over $4 million in North America; FRR has no international release date so far.)

The sci-fi disaster film deals with AI and virtual reality with Chinese heroes saving the earth from annihilation. It stars Andy Lau, Wu Jing and Li Xuejian and is directed by Frant Gwo.

Director Zhang Yimou’s Full River Red (Man Jiang Hong) is at no. 2 with $628.64 million in 22 days, with $18.96 million grossed over the weekend. The film is a historical suspense movie starring Shen Teng and Jackson Yee that deals with treachery in the Southern Song dynasty.

Boonie Bears: Guardian Code, the ninth animated sci-fi comedy in the franchise, stayed at no. 3 by the end of the weekend with $8.94 million, and a total of $200.20 million over 22 days. It is directed by Lin Yongchang and Shao Heqi.

The Deep Sea (Shenhai), a Chinese animated film directed by Tian Xiaopeng, remained at no. 4 with a total of $113.06 million over its 22-day run and a weekend take of $7.95 million. The film is an underwater fantasy story in 3D based on the POV of a young girl.

The World War II espionage thriller, Hidden Blade, held its rank at no. 5, grossing $127 million in 22 days and $5.31 million over the weekend. It stars Chinese superstar Tony Leung, Wang Yibo and Zhou Xun, and is directed by Cheng Er. The story is set during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and focuses on the intelligence agents who risked their lives to save the motherland.

As mentioned above, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ended the weekend in sixth place with a total gross of $12.04 million over 6 days.

Avatar: The Way of Water took seventh place with $247.91 million over 59 days.

The Chinese comedy-fantasy Five Hundred Miles dropped to no. 8 with $55.62 million over 22 days. The story is about the fantastic journey of two estranged friends and their opportunity to fix the friendship. It stars Lei Jia Lin and Zhang Xiao Fei and is directed by Lun Su.

Hong Kong’s entry to the Oscars, Where the Wind Blows, is at no. 9 with $6.53 million grossed over 8 days. The film is a 2022 Hong Kong action crime thriller directed by Philip Yung and stars Aaron Kwok and Tony Leung as two cops in Hong Kong under British colonial rule in the 1960s as they grapple with corruption in the police force.

Ping Pong of China, a sports film based on the true story of the comeback of the China men’s table tennis team at the 1995 World Table Tennis championships in Tianjin, and still in previews for two weeks, rounded out the top ten with $7.38 million. Its official release date is February 17.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish fell out of the top ten to 11th place with a total gross of $6.87 million over 52 days.