Coming Soon to Theaters: "Traffic Jam on a Box Office Superhighway"

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefNewly released “The Croods: A New Age” jostled with two previously-released titles to form a triumvirate at the top of the South Korean box office over the weekend of May 7-9, 2021.But after a sprightly Wednesday, which was a national holiday, the weekend numbers were weak. Aggregate takings between Friday and Sunday were a lowly $2.57 million.Box office charts in Korea are typically ranked in order of ticket sales.

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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).

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.

The Mexican comedy Nosotros Los Nobles (We Are the Nobles) is getting an English-language feature take at Netflix from producers Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe for 26th Street Pictures as part of their overall deal with the streamer.

Jamie Lang Netflix is about to introduce one of Mexico’s most legendary fictional families to the English-speaking world with “We Are the Nobles,” a new U.S.

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.

Japanese anime blockbuster Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train edged out video game adaptation Mortal Kombat at the weekend box office, according to Sunday estimates. Demon Slayer grossed $6.4 million from 1,925 theaters for an impressive 10-day domestic total of $34.1 million for Aniplex and Funimation, and north of $450 million globally.

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.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRomantic drama “Waiting For Rain” became the fourth local film in as many weeks to head the Korean box office. It held off new release U.S.

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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).

After an opening weekend where the anime film came surprisingly close to topping “Mortal Kombat” for the No. 1 spot, industry estimates have “Demon Slayer” just edging out the video game adaptation with $6.4 million from 1,915 theaters in its second weekend compared to $6.2 million for “Kombat.” With such close margins, it will come down to final totals on Monday to determine who ends up on top on the charts.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAfter narrowly losing first place in its opening weekend, “Demon Slayer: Mugen Train” has surged ahead of “Mortal Kombat” on U.S. box office charts.The anime action adventure “Demon Slayer” is expected to end the weekend with $6.4 million in ticket sales, while “Mortal Kombat” trails closely behind with $6.2 million between Friday and Sunday.

SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Though the numbers aren’t as big as their opening weekends, an interesting tale continues at the weekend box office during the pandemic with New Line’s Mortal Kombat and Funimation/Aniplex’s Demon Slayer bound for a photo-finish of $6.1M each in their second weekends. Really, it’s too close to call No. 1 right now.

Giant-screen exhibitor Imax posted higher first-quarter revenues as it was lifted by a recovery in the Asian box office. The company, led by CEO Richard Gelfond, reduced its loss attributable to shareholders to $14.8 million, compared with a loss of $49.4 million last year when Imax was hit hard by movie theater closures during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Imax’s first-quarter results showed signs of the movie industry’s rebound from the depths of Covid-19 a year ago, and the numbers met Wall Street analysts’ expectations.