Hong Kong’s “P Storm” continued to wash over the China box office during another lackluster weekend. The film enjoyed an $18.5 million haul in its second weekend, down 55% from its $39.8 million opening, according to data from Artisan Gateway.
The thriller is the fourth installment of a franchise that follows actor Louis Koo as a corruption investigator rooting out crime, this time inside a prison. The film has already brought in a total of $89.4 million, enough to crown it the most lucrative in the series yet. The franchise record was previously held by last year’s “L Storm,” which made $66 million. The Maoyan online ticketing platform predicts that “P Storm” will bring in $114 million overall. A fifth film in the series is set to shoot in August.
Indian black comedy “Andhadhun” pulled ahead of Warner Bros.’ “Shazam!” into second place with $10.3 million over the weekend, more than double the Hollywood blockbuster’s earnings of $4.8 million. With $30.1 million at the box office so far, the Hindi-language tale of a pianist who becomes embroiled in a murder has in less than two weeks in China nearly outstripped its total intake in its native India, where it made $33.4 million. Maoyan estimates it will gross $50.9 million in its month-long run in China, nearly 50 times what it made in North America.
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“Shazam!” dropped to third, and advanced its cumulative to $40.4 million after 9 days in Chinese cinemas. But with an 85% tumble from its opening weekend score of $30.6 million, its prospects are fast dimming.
Just behind, in fourth place, was Japanese thriller “The Crimes That Bind,” which made $4.4 million in its debut weekend. Based on a novel by mystery writer Keigo Higashino, the film was directed by Katsuo Fukuzawa and produced by MacLotus. In fifth was Er Dong Pictures’ teacher-student drama “Song of Youth,” which brought in $2 million.
Artisan Gateway reports the aggregate weekend box office at a lowly $48 million. The running total for the year is now $3 billion, 8.5% below the same point last year.