Chinese action-adventure title “Schemes in Antiques” conspired to hold its own at the top of the China box office with a $14.7 million second weekend, having opened first last week with a solid $25.6 million three-day debut.
Originally set to premiere in April, the tale of intrigue around real and counterfeit artifacts from Hong Kong director Derek Kwok Chi-kin (“Wukong”) has now grossed $52 million (RMB331 million) of a projected $66.6 million, according to data from Maoyan. Produced by Hong Kong-based Emperor Motion Pictures, it stars fan favorite Ge You alongside Lei Jiayin, Li Xian, and Xin Zhilei.
“Schemes” maneuvered ahead of second place comedic thriller “Be Somebody,” which grossed a further $9.85 million in its fifth weekend to bring its current cume up to $133 million.
Once again this week, a new rom-com took third: a film whose Chinese name translates to “We Who Have Loved Before.” The tear-jerking first feature from newcomer Zhang Xiaolei grossed $3.55 million, far less than first and second place.
That the top three films of the weekend look so very much like they did last week — the fresher “Schemes,” followed by “Be Somebody” and a $3 million debut of an innocuous, flash-in-the-pan rom-com trailing far behind — is an indication of how stagnant China’s release schedule is at the moment without new major blockbuster releases.
Viewers were thirsty enough for new content that the upcoming animation “I Am What I Am” came in third off pre-sales, ahead of largely-exhausted war epic “The Battle at Lake Changjin,” which has been in theaters for 72 days since September. The former is set to release Dec. 17, but already grossed $2.33 million this weekend.
Directed by Wuhan native Sun Haipeng (“Kung Food”), the boldly colored tale tells the story of a young boy and his rag-tag band of companions who dream of winning the country’s biggest lion dance competition with the help of a former star dancer.
This week, “Battle” earned a further $1.44 million, bringing its cume up to $903 million.
Meanwhile, “Oh! My Gran” — the first Korean film to be released in China in six years — continues to fare poorly, with hardly any allotted screenings (an average of 0.4% of total nationwide screenings each day). It has grossed just $394,000 (RMB2.5 million) so far since its Dec. 3. debut, and currently ranks outside the top 20 films at the box office.