The Lunar New Year holiday releases continued to exert their dominance over both the mainland Chinese and global box office for the third consecutive weekend, with Zhang Yimou’s “Article 20” claiming the top spot.
According to data from global box office tracking service ComScore, “Article 20,” “Pegasus 2,” “YOLO,” and “Boonie Bears: Time Twist” secured the first, second, fifth, and sixth positions, respectively, on the global box office charts for the latest weekend.
In mainland China, these four titles maintained their stronghold, propelling the year-to-date box office figures to a level comparable to that of 2023. Despite entering their third week, the quartet continued to outperform the top newcomer, “Argylle.”
Artisan Gateway, a consultancy providing China box office data, reported that “Article 20” grossed $40.1 million (RMB285 million) between Friday and Sunday, claiming the top spot for the weekend. With a cumulative total of $290 million, “Article 20” surpassed the animated franchise film “Boonie Bears.”
“Pegasus 2,” despite leading the daily box office rankings on multiple occasions, fell short of securing a weekend victory, earning $35.6 million over the latest weekend and accumulating a total of $432 million.
“YOLO,” which previously topped the charts for two consecutive weekends, slipped to third place with a weekend gross of $25.2 million, maintaining its status as the highest-grossing film of the holiday season with a total of $463 million.
“Boonie Bears: Time Twist,” the tenth installment in the Fantawild film and TV franchise launched in 2014, demonstrated robust performance, earning $22.5 million over the weekend and achieving a cumulative total of $257 million, making it the series’ most successful entry to date.
The overwhelming dominance of these top four titles prompted distributors to withdraw several other Lunar New Year releases, such as “The Movie Emperor,” “Viva La Vida,” “Huang Pi – God of Money,” and “Bai Jie,” from cinemas prematurely, with plans to re-release them at a more opportune time.
“Argylle,” which disappointed at the box office in various territories, experienced a similar fate in China, generating just $1.4 million in its opening weekend.
Artisan Gateway reported that the year-to-date China box office aggregate currently stands at $1.89 billion, trailing behind the equivalent point in 2023 by only 3%.
