A goal of the Chinese government is to export domestic films to the rest of the world and thus increase its influence abroad. At the recent Cannes Film Festival, at the China Film Pavilion, one topic of discussion was the international distribution of Chinese films. But very few have broken through in Western markets with the exception of Zhang Yimou’s Hero in 2022 and Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000. The propaganda strategy does not travel well outside China as the country’s biggest blockbuster of all time, The Battle at Lake Changjin and its sequel, did not make much money abroad, not even in Southeast Asian countries. Of its worldwide gross of $902 million, $899 million was made in China. Changjin I made $342,000 in the US. (The Battle at Lake Changjin II is still playing in China and has made over $600 million in 160 days of release in China; it has made less than $1 million in international territories.)

It seems clear that what Chinese audiences appreciate is not what foreign audiences will spend money on. So if Chinese filmmakers can overcome the antipathy towards subtitles by international audiences and produce movies that genuinely resonate without overt jingoistic themes or are based on obscure and unexplained local legends, with a taut three-act structure that frames a coherent narrative, Chinese filmmakers have a way to go to deliver satisfactory international grosses that appeal beyond the diaspora.

The No. 1 film in China for the weekend of July 8-10 is last week’s box office champion, Lighting Up the Stars, which has swept past Jurassic Park: Dominion to gross $177.32 in 17 days, with a three-day take of $27.59 million. But it has no international release yet, so it remains to be seen if a sentimental movie about the unlikely friendship of an ex-con funeral director and a little girl will translate overseas.

JWD was also beaten by the Chinese serial killer murder mystery Detective vs. Sleuths which made $23.08 million over the weekend in its 3 days of release including a week of previews. The story is set in Hong Kong and stars Sean Lau, Raymond Lam, and Carman Lee Yeuk-tung, and is written and directed by Wai Ka-fai.

In third place, JWD grossed $6.31million over the weekend and has taken in $144.35 million in 31 days.

The rest of the list falls far behind with just one new release among the holdovers and rereleases.

Octonauts: The Caves of Sac Actun, a rereleased Netflix animated feature film from 2020 with a Chinese voice cast, comes in fourth with a weekend take of $2.62 million. It is based on the television series written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy, about eight little cartoon characters who live beneath the sea and go on adventures. There have been five TV seasons and two feature films. It has grossed $5.97 million so far with this latest rerelease.

One Week Friends stayed in the fifth position from last weekend bringing in $0.54 million from Friday to Sunday, with a total gross of $17.64 million in 23 days of release. This is another youth romance about a young woman whose amnesia only allows her one week’s memory.

The Japanese film Doraemon: Nobita’s Little Star Wars 2021, came in at No. 6. The animated space opera parody of Star Wars, No. 41 in the Doraemon series, and a remake of the 1985 Doraemon: Nobita’s Little Star Wars, grossed $14.42 in 44 days of release.

New entrant Return to Dust, a romance drama, was No. 7 and made $0.27 million in three days of release. It was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival earlier this year with good reviews. Variety called it “a compassionate but cautious Chinese drama of rural lives ennobled by sacrifice.”

The pandemic story Ode to the Spring, a film about Wuhan at the start of Covid in 2020 is No. 8. Directed by Yue Dong, Xiaozhi Rao, and Yusheng Tian and starring Dongyu Zhou, Fang Yin, and Li Lin, it has made  It grossed $4.07 million in 10 days of release.

Captain Qomolangma, a Chinese documentary, came in at No. 9 with $ 0.41 million in nine days of release, and The Man of the People, a family drama released in April, rounds out the top 10 with $3.43 million in 80 days of release.

China is now the second-largest movie territory in the world, ceding the crown back to North America. In the first six months of 2022, ticket sales totaled $2.6 billion in China, down 38% from 2021’s similar period according to Artisan Gateway, the exhibition industry consultancy company. North America made $3.7 billion in sales compared to $1.11 billion last year.

So far no other Hollywood films have received release dates in China.