China Box Office: Guy Ritchie's 'Wrath of Man' Set for May Release

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefZhang Yimou’s period espionage thriller “Cliff Walkers” ran out a comfortable winner at the mainland Chinese box office, ahead of other holdovers and new release titles including Jason Statham-starring “Wrath of Man.”“Cliff Walkers” dropped only 32% between its second and third weekends, taking $16.6 million between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Refresh for latest…: A significant week is ahead at the international box office as Universal’s F9 starts its engines in a handful of major markets including China, Russia and Korea — and as the UK and France will reopen cinemas after a roughly seven-month shutdown. In the meantime, Fast & Furious franchise alum Jason Statham’s Wrath Of Man was the main overseas Hollywood title this session, lifting its offshore cume to $41.4M for $56M global.

Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man hit theaters last Friday and the reviews are in. Rolling Stone called the film “the action-heist-revenge flick you want right now.” The film features Guy Ritchie’s long-time collaborator Jason Statham as the main character, Patrick “H” Hill.

Post Malone‘s acting the thumbs up but said he won’t collaborate musically with the rap artist anytime soon.The actor’s latest film Wrath Of Man, which was released on Friday (May 7), sees Post Malone make a cameo as a doomed opponent who falls at the hands of Statham’s character.In an interview promoting the new Guy Ritchie-directed film, Statham told USA Today: “Post came in with this big enthusiasm for being killed that day.“He’s like, ‘I can’t wait for you to kill me, man.’ I got sucked into

Rebecca Davis editorZhang Yimou’s spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” strode into first place this weekend at the China box office with a $24.3 million score, bringing its cumulative total up to $118 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.It more than tripled the gross of “My Love,” the melodramatic rom-com that had outpaced it last week for first place, in what was the opening weekend for both films.

Refresh for latest…: Yet another international box office frame was led by Chinese movies in their home market as local May Day holdovers continued play coming off a record holiday session. While a handful of studio titles are doing business in other pockets of the world, we are in something of a holding pattern until majors like the UK and France begin opening in the coming weeks, and as Universal’s F9 is expected to rev up overseas turnstiles for Hollywood starting on May 19.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Wrath of Man,” a heist thriller starring Jason Statham, is leading box office charts with its $8.1 million debut.It’s hardly the start to summer movie season, which typically kicks off the first weekend in May, that many theater owners were hoping would ignite with Marvel’s “Black Widow.” (Disney recently moved the release of its superhero tentpole starring Scarlet Johansson from May 7 to July 9).

Saturday AM Update: Refresh for analysis By the calendar’s measure of recent box office years, it is the first weekend of summer. But because movie theaters are still closed in most of Europe and Brazil due to the pandemic, Disney decided to move Marvel’s Black Widow to July 9.

Guy Ritchie films have been accused of many things over the years, but “boring” has rarely been among the slights. Removed from his native soil in this latest outing and robbed of anything resembling a unique or interesting character (usually the hallmarks of his work), Ritchie is fully and truly adrift with “Wrath of Man”: a sophomoric revenge fantasy that reads at the middle school level.

Jason Statham says very, very little in his new film. The English actor must have only need to memorize about three pages of dialogue.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticWhen H shows up for work in Guy Ritchie’s “Wrath of Man,” no one at Fortico Security has much reason to suspect he might have any motive other than protecting the cash for the armored-truck outfit. The new guy — who looks an awful lot like the bald bloke from the “Crank” and “Transporter” movies — doesn’t waste words.

Chinese box office across the five-day May Day holiday which concluded Wednesday hit a record high of RMB 1.67B ($258M). This is up from the RMB 1.53B grossed during the similar 2019 frame which lasted four days.

Zhang Yimou's spy thriller Cliff Walkers was the best reviewed new release to open over China's lucrative May Day holiday weekend, but it was far from the biggest earner. Youth romance My Love, from Beijing Enlight Pictures, overcame withering reviews to dominate the start of the long holiday frame, earning $65.1 million from Friday to Sunday.

Rebecca Davis editorZhang Yimou’s snowy period spy thriller “Cliff Walkers” debuted in China this Labor Day holiday weekend with $37.7 million. But it was outrun by local rom-com “My Love,” which took a comfortable box office victory.That tale of young love starring Taiwan’s Greg Hsu and Zhang Ruonan of the popular TV show “Cry Me A Sad River” opened Friday to earn $65.1 million over three days, according to data from Artisan Gateway.

Refresh for latest…: After a couple of relatively slow sessions, China turned up the heat again this weekend as the five-day May Day/Labor Day holiday dawned. At least 10 new local titles released across Friday and Saturday with romance drama My Love in the lead through Sunday at an estimated RMB 424M ($65M).

Guy Ritchie spent the better part of the 2010s working on a number of high-profile, franchise films such as “Sherlock Holmes,” “The Man from UNCLE,” “King Arthur,” and “Aladdin.” But since 2019, he’s been firmly back in his prior wheelhouse of making gritty crime thrillers, such as 2020’s “The Gentlemen” and the upcoming film, “Wrath of Man.” READ MORE: Guy Ritchie To Write & Direct WWII Thriller, ‘Ministry Of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ For Paramount And as seen in the new Red Band trailer for

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThe coronavirus pandemic continued to be a drag on IMAX’s earnings during the first quarter, but there were signs that a box office revival in Asia could foreshadow a moviegoing return in the U.S. and other markets.