Jackie Chan-starring nostalgic stuntman comedy film “Ride On” trotted to a second weekend atop the mainland Chinese box office. “The Super Mario” Bros. Movie” remained in fourth place.
“Ride On” earned $6.0 million (RMB41.5 million) between Friday and Sunday, a 48% week-on week drop, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That took it to a $22.6 million total since release on April 7.
Below it, Japanese animation “Suzume” and Chinese shaggy dog story “Hachiko” swapped places. “Hachiko,” on its third weekend outing, earned $4.9 million, for a cumulative of $35.1 million. “Suzume” earned $4.5 million in its fourth weekend on release in China, giving it a $109 million cumulative.
“Super Mario” earned $4.3 million in its second weekend in China. After ten days on release, it has a cumulative of $17.1 million.
The weekend’s top newcomer was “Faces in the Crowd,” an action film about 1931 rivalry between Communist and Nationalist forces, placed fifth. It earned $3.0 million in its opening three days.
Chinese box office surged back to life in January with a bountiful Chinese New Year holiday season. The latest weekend was worth $33 million nationwide and puts the year-to-date running total at $2.50 billion.
That figure is some 20% ahead of the same time last year, but comparisons with locked-down 2022 become increasingly meaningless from this point onwards.
Measured against 2019, the 2023 total is 17% adrift. Measured against 2018, it is 24% lower. The performances over the May Day holiday session in two weeks from now will be a useful pointer to the health of China’s box office revival.