China Box Office Sees Lowest Pre-Christmas Weekend Since 2014 as ‘The Rescue’ Defeats ‘Wonder Woman 1984’

Rebecca Davis editorImported films accounted for only about a sixth of China’s total box office in 2020, a nearly 55% decrease year-on-year, industry data tracker Maoyan Entertainment said Monday.

Ever since the movie theater industry was gutted due to COVID-19, with many of the world’s cinemas being shut down in March until this fall, we’ve known 2020 was going to be a record bad year for the industry. But with the final 2020 box office numbers being reported, we can fully see just how the pandemic destroyed an industry.

Sony’s Will Smith sequel “ Bad Boys for Life ” has stayed in first place in North America since its January release with $206.3 million. Globally it’s in second place to the Chinese film “The Eight Hundred” — the first time that the top worldwide film originated outside of Hollywood.

Soul” continues to charm China with sales of $13.8 million over its second weekend, more than double its $5.5 million Christmas debut, thanks to strong word of mouth. It was the highest-grossing foreign import of the New Year weekend, far outstripping “Wonder Woman 1984” and even Hayao Miyazaki’s older but beloved animation “Ponyo.”The weekend was huge.

It's official: North American box office revenue plummeted 80 percent in 2020 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented theater closures, while global revenue tumbled more than 70 percent. As predicted, domestic movie tickets sold between Jan.

Refresh for latest…: China was the big international box office winner this weekend with three local movies at the top of the chart and a New Year’s Day record set on Friday. That came just as it was confirmed the market led global box office for 2020, surpassing North America for the first time.

Thanksgiving and is also now available to rent on premium video on demand.Disney and Pixar’s “Soul,” which skipped U.S. theaters and is available for free for Disney+ subscribers, added $16.5 million internationally — a 114% increase from its opening in the same markets last weekend.

As 2021 dawned, China shot straight out of the box office gate with a new record. On Friday, the market hit a milestone for New Year’s Day.

Sony’s Will Smith sequel “ Bad Boys for Life ” has stayed in first place in North America since its January release with $206.3 million. Globally it’s in second place to the Chinese film “The Eight Hundred” — the first time that the top worldwide film originated outside of Hollywood.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentSavaged by COVID-19, global box office plunged between 57% and 76% in major markets outside the U.S., with the U.K. and Ireland leading the rout, crashing 76% against 2019, according to a Comscore study, published Wednesday.Also hit hard were China (-70%), South Korea (-71%), and Italy and Spain (both down 72%).

Hong Kong action sequel Shock Wave 2 rocked China's box office over the weekend, opening to a healthy $64.5 million. Youth fantasy film Dream of Eternity also did decent business, debuting to $38.9 million.

Rebecca Davis editorHong Kong’s “Shock Wave 2” out-earned “Wonder Woman 1984” in China in just two days, topping the local box office this weekend with a $51.4 million debut, according to data from Maoyan.By the end of Christmas Day, “Shock Wave 2” had grossed $28.6 million (RMB187 million), more than the $23 million (RMB151 million) “Wonder Woman” had earned since Dec.

Refresh for latest…: There was a bit more varied action at the international box office this weekend, including the continued rollout of Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, a sizable start for China’s Shock Wave 2, the debut of Disney/Pixar’s Soul, The Croods: A New Age nearing $100M global, and a brand new milestone for Japan’s Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train which, according to estimates, has overtaken Spirited Away to become the highest-grossing film ever in the market.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWhile the North American box office pulls in less than $5 million per weekend due to COVID-19, the China and Japan markets are not only open, but also capable of breaking theatrical records. It may feel logical to hurry more U.S.

“Wonder Woman 1984” — Warner Bros.’s much-anticipated sequel to its superhero franchise starring Gal Gadot — suffered a weak weekend debut in China, where it earned a mere $19 million in ticket sales, or less than half of what Hollywood had expected. Media watchers had pegged the follow-up film to 2017’s “Wonder Woman” to reel in at least $40 million in the Middle Kingdom.

While we may be talking about the unfortunate death of movie theaters in the US, considering they have yet to fully bounce back from being closed most of the year and 2021 isn’t looking as promising as we hoped, Chinese cinemas are not only open but thriving.

China's box office was the scene of disappointment over the weekend, as Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman 1984 got trounced by local action flick The Rescue. The Rescue, directed by Dante Lam, opened to $36.3 million, nearly double Wonder Woman 1984's meagre $18.8 million start, according to data from Artisan Gateway.

Wonder Woman 1984 opened to an underwhelming $18.8 million in China, behind expectations and a less-than-wondrous start for WarnerMedia as it embarks on a bold plan to release its films both in theaters and on HBO Max. The Warner Bros./DC superhero pic placed No.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaDiana Prince may be able to best Cheetah, but she’s no match for a global pandemic.“Wonder Woman 1984” opened to a less than heroic $18.8 million in China over the weekend and a disappointing $38.5 million overseas.

Warner Bros/DC’s Wonder Woman 1984, as expected, landed at No. 2 in its China debut on Friday, coming in behind local actioner The Rescue. The Patty Jenkins-helmed sequel to 2017’s Wonder Woman grossed an estimated RMB 44.2M ($7M, including sneaks). This portends a weekend in the mid $20M range for the Middle Kingdom, lower than where the industry was seeing it heading into the session, thus also pushing down the full international box office launch.