“Caliph,” a Chinese-produced comedy-drama about escaping poverty, dominated the Chinese box office over the weekend, while a slick re-release of the Japanese animated film “Your Name” and the Hollywood action film “Twisters” also made a splash, but they’re no longer relevant.
Data from consulting firm Artisan Gateway showed that “Successor” grossed 633 million yuan ($89.1 million) between Friday and Sunday in China. While this is the film’s first official weekend, “Successor” ended Sunday with a total of 1.55 billion yuan, or $219 million.
This is due to two days of extensive screenings the previous weekend that were considered previews (causing the title to be dropped from Comscore’s charts a week early) and pushing its official release window to Tuesday (July 16), allowing it to get ahead of weaker titles on the market. (Most titles in China release on Fridays, but distributors this summer seem to be trying other days of the week as well.)
“The Successor” is directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo (“Hello, Mr. Billionaire,” “Goodbye, Mr. Loser”) and stars Shen Teng, Ma Li, Shi Bingyuan, Sa Rena, and Xiao Bochen. Its overseas distributor, CMC Pictures, plans to capitalize on the film’s momentum and release it in English-speaking territories in early August.
“A Place Called Silence,” which topped the box office two weeks ago, held on to second place but fell 50 percent in its third weekend. The film took in $16.4 million over the weekend, bringing its total since July 3 to $156 million.
The 2016 Japanese animated film “Your Name,” which grossed $83 million in China, returned to third place with $11.5 million in three days.
“Despicable Me 4” took in $7.3 million in fourth place over the weekend. After its release two weeks ago, its total in China has reached $32.5 million.
The Chinese animated film “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 9,” part of a long-running film series that spans the history of film and television, took in $4.6 million. The film closed Sunday with a total of $5.4 million, including previews.
Artisan Gateway did not release data for “Twisters,” which had a China release that closely coincided with its North American and international openings. However, other data sources showed the film grossed an estimated $1.5 million in its first three days in China. That contrasts with its North American debut of $80 million, which was the No. 1 worldwide.
Comscore reported that the movie “Khalifa” came in second place worldwide during the last weekend.
