China Box Office: ‘Fireflies in the Sun,’ a Remake of ‘John Q,’ Soars to Weekend First Place

Given the ongoing pandemic with regard to global box office, it’s tempting to say “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” To wit: Disney still leads all studios worldwide, piracy remains a major concern, and many markets are still in Covid-induced flux. But when looking back over 2021 versus 2020, there are some key differences and highlights. Thank heavens, or at least, thank the Toretto family, Godzilla and Kong, James Bond and phenom Spider-Man to name a few headliners who proved that when product is available in cinemas, audiences will embrace the communal experience.

Edinburgh Zoo has shared an adorable clip of resident panda Yang Guang acting more like a pet cat after he was caught playing with a cardboard box.

Michael Cudlitz (Clarice, The Walking Dead) and Jake Abel (Malignant, Supernatural) and have signed on to star alongside Zhang Hanyu (The Taking of Tiger Mountain, The Great Wall) and Vivienne Tien (Be Yourself) in Unspoken, a dramatic feature from writer-director Daming Chen that is now in production.

The Sony/Marvel Studios film is now the first film of the pandemic era to hit the $1 billion mark after just 12 days in theaters, tying “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the third fastest film to hit that milestone in just 11 days in theaters. And unlike “Infinity War,” “No Way Home” was able to do this without a release in China, though Spidey will need a Chinese opening date to have a chance to join “Force Awakens” in the $2 billion club.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a very happy holiday as it is now officially the first movie of the pandemic-era to pass the $1B mark at the global box office. The worldwide gross through Sunday is $1.05B which makes this installment Sony’s No. 2 film of all time, behind only Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13B). No Way Home is the No. 1 film of the year worldwide — and one of the only movies of the modern era to ever reach $1B without China. Simply amazing.

Adding $30 million on Thursday from 4,336 locations, “No Way Home” has a domestic box office total of $386 million and $876 million worldwide, passing the $821 million total of the Chinese film “Hi, Mom” for second place on the global charts for the year.

China will be the world’s largest box office market for the second year running, overturning the decade-long rankings and staying ahead of the North American market as it did in for the first time in 2020.And, even if “Spider-Man: No Way Home” avoids becoming caught in a web of omicron-related shutdowns to become the highest grossing film of 2021, Chinese movies “The Battle at Lake Changjin” and “Hi, Mom” are certain to account for at least two of the year’s top five.Such a new world order has

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentLocally-made films, especially animated titles, dominated the Japanese box office in 2021.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Spider-Man: No Way Home” shrugged off new health restrictions in South Korea to earn the biggest box office opening weekend since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.The film earned $15.0 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has become the third biggest global opener of all-time with $587.2M. Crossing the $500M mark makes it only the sixth film ever to the milestone in a launch frame.

Tom Holland had big plans to surprise audiences at screenings of Spider-Man: No Way Home on opening night, but the plans had to be canceled.

Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed an estimated $5.28M in Korea on its first day today. This is significant for a number of reasons: Korea has been extremely soft of late, yet the launch day is 11% over the first day of 2019’s pre-pandemic Spider-Man: Far From Home and is the biggest day-one figure for any title of the pandemic era.

Taking an early look at 2022, Gower Street Analytics is projecting global box office to reach $33.2B next year. That would rep a 58% increase on 2021 if the current year stays on track for the London-based firm’s projected approximate $21B (this is a slightly revised number from its October prediction for the year, in part owing to some Hollywood films not securing China dates through December).

The original “Avatar” was a massive hit for 20th Century Fox (pre-Disney merger) and most recently recovered its all-time global box office record from “Avengers: Endgame” thanks to a re-release in China. It’s still unknown if the four, yes four, “Avatar” sequels will replicate that landmark success at the box office, given that the current box office climate makes it seem unlikely we’ll see films being able to reach $2.73 billion again anytime soon.

Rebecca Davis editorChinese 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.

Oppenheimer.The pair will appear in the film opposite Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Emily Blunt in the film.