China Box Office: ‘The Battle at Lake Changjin II’ Tops $600 Million Haul

Earlier this week, “The Batman” became just the fifth Hollywood film in the past year to gross over $500 million worldwide and should pass the $300 million domestic mark and $600 million global mark by the end of this weekend. While the new COVID-19 infection surge in China has closed over 25% of theaters in that country as “The Batman” opens there, the film is still on pace to surpass the theatrical runs of “F9” and “No Time to Die” and become only the second Hollywood film to gross over $800 million since the pandemic began.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Batman” flew to a worryingly slow start on Friday at the mainland China box office, where Hollywood films have struggled of late and where the latest coronavirus surge is threatening films of all origins.By 3.30pm on its first full day, the Warner Bros. noir had earned a lowly RMB12.1 million, or $1.90 million at prevailing currency rates, according to provisional data from ticketing agency Maoyan.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past the half a billion dollar mark worldwide to become the fourth highest-grossing studio release of the pandemic era. The global total is $505.8M through Wednesday, and there’s still plenty of gas left in the Batmobile.

After two weeks in theaters, Warner Bros./DC’s “The Batman” has passed $500 million at the global box office, with more than half of that total coming from domestic theaters. On Wednesday, “The Batman” added $5.75 million domestically, bringing its total to $258.3 million in North America and $505.8 million worldwide.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefTreasure-hunting action adventure “Uncharted” picked up $1.95 million in China on Monday, its official opening day, according to local box office tracking sources. Provisional data from Ent Group showed it launching in first place on Monday, becoming the first film to displace the long-running Chinese patriotic war movie “The Battle at Lake Changjin II,” which had reigned supreme since Feb.

In its sophomore outing, Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman kept a firm grip on the international box office, dropping just 42% to add $66.6M from 76 offshore markets. That brings the overseas cume through Sunday to $224.7M for $463.2M global. As the Robert Pattinson-starrer heads to $500M worldwide this week, in like-for-like markets and using today’s exchange rates, it’s currently tracking 132% ahead of pandemic comp Godzilla Vs Kong and is 44% above Wonder Woman, 36% ahead of The Dark Knight and 24% over Justice League.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMainland China’s theatrical box office slipped to its lowest weekend total of the year as the market suffered a combination of rising COVID cases and a lack of new releases.Nationwide box office between Friday and Sunday amounted to just $19.2 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It was the fifth weekend of decline since the splashy opening of eight major titles on Feb.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“The Batman” is nearing a significant box office milestone.The newest superhero adventure, starring Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader, has generated $463 million globally, putting the Warner Bros. film within striking distance of $500 million, an important benchmark given its $200 million price tag. In non-COVID times, half-a-billion dollars would be an expected and relatively insignificant threshold for a big-budget comic book adventure.

This result signifies a weekend drop of just 51%, giving “The Batman” a better second weekend hold than any of the top 5 highest grossing films of 2021; and given the film’s ability to beat projections, that hold could improve further after Sunday actuals are reported. With this blistering pace, “The Batman” stays on track to reach $400 million in North America and potentially $1 billion worldwide, having already exceeded the domestic and global runs of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” as it joins “Spider-Man: No Way Home” as the only film in the past year to top $225 million domestic.

The Matt Reeves-directed blockbuster is set to be the biggest theatrical hit for Warner Bros. since the DC film featuring Batman’s nemesis “Joker” was in theaters in fall 2019. And for movie theaters, it’s a much-needed boost in business after theaters were closed in 2020 and spent much of the past year trying to get back on their feet as the box office recovered in fits and starts.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief‘The Battle at Lake Changjin II’ headed the mainland Chinese box office for the fifth successive weekend as cinemas await significant new content. “Changjin II” earned $7.5 million over the latest weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. The increment expanded the film’s aggregate to $626 million since release on Feb.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterRobert Pattinson’s “The Batman” towered over international box office charts, collecting $120 million from 74 overseas markets.After debuting to $128.5 million in North America, the Warner Bros. comic book adventure has generated $248.5 million globally to date.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Kanaa,” an Indian-produced film from 2018 which tells the story of an aspiring woman cricketer and delves into issues of race and gender equality, will get a theatrical release in mainland China on March 18, 2022, according to Chinese state media. It is only the second Tamil-language film to be released in China in recent years, after “2.0” in 2019.

NEW YORK -- For the eighth time in the last two and a half months, a movie starring Tom Holland is No. 1 at the box office.The Sony Pictures videogame adaptation “Uncharted," starring Holland and Mark Wahlberg, led ticket sales for its second weekend of release with $23.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.“Uncharted” held well, too, dropping a modest 46% from its $44 million debut.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterSony’s video game adaptation “Uncharted,” starring Tom Holland as street-smart treasure hunter Nathan Drake, had another solid showing at the international box office.Over the weekend, the PG-13 video game adaptation collected $35 million from 64 overseas territories, pushing its international tally to $143 million. With $83 million in North American ticket sales, “Uncharted” has generated $226.4 million globally so far. That haul is impressive because “Uncharted” has yet to open in China (March 14), which currently stands as the world’s biggest theatrical market.“Uncharted” continues to pull in crowds in the United Kingdom, Holland’s birthplace.

Refresh for latest…: Sony’s Uncharted handily crossed the $200M mark globally this weekend, after adding $35M from 64 overseas markets and $23.3M domestically. The international box office cume is now $143M. Worldwide, the Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg-starrer counts $226.4M.

Imax marked an official turning point in the fourth quarter, reporting its best results in any quarter since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic upended show business and civilization.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Battle at Lake Changjin II” continued its domination of the mainland Chinese box office into a third week. But cinemagoing activity continued to slow down after peaking at the beginning of the month with the Lunar New Year holidays.Hollywood new release “Death on the Nile” did not have enough impact to make it beyond fourth place or to change the overall direction of the market. “Lake Changjin II” earned $19.8 million over the weekend, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe U.S.-made action adventure film “Uncharted” took a comfortable first place a the South Korean box office on its first weekend of release.“Uncharted” took $2.12 million between Friday and Sunday, grabbing 53% of the total Korean market, according to data from Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council (Kofic). Over five days since its Wednesday opening, the film earned $3.00 million.