Two Hollywood films, “Wonka” and “Migration”, opened in Chinese cinemas last weekend. But neither did enough business to break into the top five.
Instead, the weekend crown went to “The Invisible Guest”, a Chinese remake of the 2016 Spanish mystery thriller about a woman who must work with a police officer to clear her name after her lover is found dead in a locked room. It took a modest $12.6 million (RMB89.6 million), according to data from box office tracker Artisan Gateway. (The original Spanish film was released in Chinese cinemas in 2017.)
The remake, which rewrites the script to include a greedy cop trying to blackmail the alleged killer, a brave mother who has suffered at the hands of the authorities, and the son of a prominent politician, is backed by streamer iQiyi and directed by Chen Zhuo. It stars Greg Hsu, Janine Chang, Kara Wai and Zheng Yin.
Another Chinese new release came in second. “Love Life Light”, released by Enlight Pictures, took in $10.1 million (RMB71.9 million). Including previews, its cumulative cume now stands at $14.5 million.
Wanda Pictures’ “Endless Journey” took third place in a weekend of previews ahead of its official release on Friday (Dec 15). It earned $8.4 million (RMB59.7 million) between Friday and Sunday and already has a total of $9.2 million in the bank.
Falling from second to fourth place, “So Long for Love” earned $7.2 million (RMB51 million) for a total of $27.2 million (RMB193 million) since its opening on Dec. 1. Bona Film’s “Bursting Point” came in fifth with $7.12 million (RMB50.9 million) for a total including previews of $8.1 million.
Local Chinese data providers estimate that “Wonka” took seventh place in China on its debut weekend. Early Warner estimates reported by Variety put the domestic gross at $3.2 million. Ent Group reported a preliminary $3.45 million. Ticketing agency Maoyan reported that the film took in RMB23.3 million and revised its forecast upwards to RMB38.5 million or $5.45 million.
Warner said outbreaks of flu and cold weather may have depressed ticket sales. However, this did not seem to affect other titles. China’s total box office for the weekend was $60.3 million, up from $55 million a week earlier.
Universal’s animated film “Migration” earned $1.07 million in China on its opening weekend, according to Ent Group. Maoyan said the figure was RMB7.2 million. His forecast is for the film to finish with RMB9.6 million from $1.35 million.
China’s year-to-date box office now stands at $7.31 billion, which Artisan Gateway calculates is 82% better than this point in 2022 and 15% below the comparable performance in 2019. It was almost exactly a year ago this week that Beijing abruptly lifted its strict anti-COVID controls, giving Chinese film distributors and exhibitors a much-needed boost after a desolate nine-month depression.
