Chinese crime thriller, “A Cool Fish” climbed to the top of the China box office in its second week of release. Doing so, it held off the continuing performance of “Venom” and the opening sally of “Ralph Breaks the Internet.”
According to weekend data from Asian film and cinema consulting group Artisan Gateway, “A Cool Fish” hooked $25 million, inclusive of online service fees. That lifts its 10-day total to a cool $50 million.
“Ralph,” opening day-and-date with its North American Thanksgiving outing, and “Venom” in its third week, were neck and neck throughout the weekend and the difference between their final ranking was decided by fractions.
“Venom” scored $19.6 million, for a three-weekend cumulative of $243 million. “Ralph” came in at $19.5 million. That was ahead of the entire run of the franchise’s previous edition “Wreck-it-Ralph” and close to the $21 million opening score of “The Incredibles 2.”
“Johnny English Strikes Again” played some 10,000 locations and took fourth place. It scored $11.4 million in what was the last major territory for the film.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” earned $6.5 million for fifth place. That elevated its 10-day total to $52.3 million.
The aggregate box office for the weekend was a mid-range $85 million, reflecting not only the range-bound performance of the top films, but also a steep drop beyond the top five. Nevertheless, the score lifts the running total at the China box office so far this year to $8.10 billion (including fees). That is nearly 11% ahead of the comparable 2017 figure.