The box office domination by patriotic local film “The Battle at Lake Changjin II” ground on into a fourth weekend in China. Hollywood’s “Death on the Nile” slipped out of the top five on its second weekend of release.
“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” earned $11.0 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That lifted its cumulative to $611 million since release on Feb. 1, 2022.
Chinese comedy “Too Cool to Kill” held on to second place with $9.5 million, good for a cumulative of $393 million. Drama “Nice View” earned $6.3 million, for a cumulative of $204 million.
With “Death on the Nile” declining quickly, Chinese animated franchise film “Boonie Bears: Back to Earth” returned to fourth pace with $3.9 million, giving it a cumulative of $147 million since its Feb. 1 debut.
New release Japanese title “I Fell in Love Like a Flower Bouquet” opened in fifth place with $3.3 million over the weekend and $5.3 million since its Tuesday opening. The romantic drama about strangers at a train station, is directed by Doi Nobuhiro.
With February nearly complete and the effect of staggered dates for Chinese New Year largely unwound, the comparison between the two years is not looking flattering.
Artisan Gateway shows that the Chinese box office has now passed the $2 billion mark, to reach $2.07 billion, but it is trailing 2021 by some 15%. At the same point last year, the running total was $2.44 billion.