“Venom” enjoyed a spectacular $87 million second weekend at the Chinese box office. That was almost double the opening score by “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” in the Middle Kingdom.
According to data that excludes online ticket fees, supplied by Asian theatrical industry consultant Artisan Gateway, “Venom” scored $87.2 million, a drop of just 14%. Its 10-day cumulative score is $187 million.
That figure is claimed to be the highest ever second-weekend in China by a superhero movie. The cumulative, and the film’s momentum, mean that the “Venom” box office in China is on course to overtake the film’s $210 million performance in North America.
In comparison, “Grindelwald” managed only $34.8 million, opening in second place. Some $4.5 million of that came from performances at 557 IMAX venues.
The figures are significantly lower than for the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” It released in China in 2016, with a $40.8 million first weekend and went on to accumulate $86.0 million.
“Venom” and “Grindelwald” had largely similar performances on Friday, with “Grindelwald” enjoying the higher screen counts, approximately 125,000 performances, compared with some 105,000 screenings for “Venom.” But on Saturday, exhibitors switched their loyalty and resources to the holdover title.
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The cumulative box office for all films on release this weekend stood at $146 million, according to Artisan Gateway. That gives a year-to-date net total of $7.45 billion, some 9.7% ahead of 2017.
Third place this weekend belonged to Chinese new release “Cool Fish,” which scored $8.9 million. Fourth place was taken by Japan’s “Detective Conan: Zero The Enforcer,” with $5.1 million in its second weekend. After 10-days on release, it has a $15.8 million cumulative.
Chinese film, “Last Letter,” a romance starring Zhou Xun, dropped from fourth to fifth place, but held up well. It earned $4.5 million in its second weekend, down only 17% from its opening $5.4 million.