‘Detective Chinatown 3’ breaks ‘Avengers: Endgame’ box office record

Richard Kuipers The mega-successful Chinese franchise about a mismatched detective duo tackling baffling crimes in foreign destinations continues with a wildly uneven caper set in Tokyo.

Imax posted lower revenues during its fourth quarter, compared to pre-pandemic 2019, but an Asian box office resurgence helped the giant screen exhibitor offset a continuing hit to its North American theaters from the COVID-19 crisis. On Thursday, Imax reported a loss attributable to shareholders at $21.2 million, compared to a year-earlier profit of $18.2 million, and the adjusted loss per share was 21 cents, compared with a 35 cents-per-share profit in 2019.

Imax sales slumped last quarter but beat Wall Street estimates and it swung to a loss. The stock popped in late trading as the company highlighted a strong box office in China and Japan, upbeat outlook and continued sales of its big-screen systems despite the pandemic.

Tom & Jerry made a number of friends at the weekend box office with a North American debut of $13.7 million from 2,475 theaters and a global total of $38.8 million through Sunday. Domestically, the feature film about the iconic alley cat and pesky mouse who are frenemies scored the second-best three-day launch of the pandemic behind fellow Warner Bros.

A not-so-distant recovery for movie theatres could be glimpsed Sunday, as Warner Bros.′ live-action-animation hybrid “Tom & Jerry” debuted with $17.4 million ($13.7M USD) in ticket sales, the best domestic opening of the year.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros’ hybrid live-action/animated feature Tom & Jerry began offshore rollout in mid-February, and this session became the first studio title to hit China in the wake of the Lunar New Year, as well as adding a host of other new markets. The Hanna-Barbera rascals scampered off with a further $19.4M from 33 markets at the international box office in the session, which made for a global $33.1M weekend including domestic‘s strong start.

Rebecca Davis editor“Tom and Jerry” squeaked in a narrow fifth in China with a $12.4 million debut, failing to capture viewers still flocking to local Chinese New Year holdover titles over the Lantern Festival holiday weekend.The Warner Bros.

Chinese blockbusters Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 both sailed past the $600 million mark during their second weekend in cinemas — an unprecedented feat for two films competing head-to-head in a single market. Heartwarming comedy Hi, Mom, produced by Beijing Culture, has emerged as China's 2021 Lunar New Year champion despite beginning the holiday in distant second behind Wanda Pictures' comedy franchise hit Detective Chinatown 3.

Chinese New Year movies continued to drive the global and international box office this weekend, after their astonishing Covid-era debuts last frame. Leaders last session, Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi Mom, both crossed the RMB 4B mark locally, with each at an estimated RMB 4.02B ($621M) cume through Sunday. This is after just 10 days of play for each film, and boosts both up the all-time charts

With presumed Western blockbusters such as Black Widow, No Time to Die, and The Eternals delayed until later this year, the rambunctious Detective Chinatown franchise has leaped into the void in a very, very big way. Few, if any movies have ever raked in so much coin in so little time.

Rebecca Davis editorThe Beijing Culture-backed tear-jerking comedy “Hi, Mom” grossed $134 million this weekend to finally surpass Wanda Film’s record-breaking Chinese New Year holiday frontrunner “Detective Chinatown 3” in overall box office, having led the latter in single-day returns since Monday.It is now only the sixth film to ever have grossed more than RMB400 million ($62 million) in China, a feat achieved by “Detective Chinatown 3,” “Avengers: Endgame” and four other local titles.The

In the span of six days, the Chinese box office roared to a $1.2B Lunar New Year record, with Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 setting global benchmarks for the biggest opening day and weekend in a single market.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s Lunar New Year holiday brought in a record $1.2 billion (RMB7.8 billion) in ticket sales, making a tenth of the global 2020 box office in just six days.It marked the first time in Chinese film history that the country’s single-day box office exceeded RMB1 billion ($155 million) for five consecutive days.

On Wednesday, Chinese New Year box office achieved yet another new milestone with grosses for the holiday period growing to an estimated RMB 7.78B ($1.2B). This beats the previous all-time high set during the comparable 2019 holiday (RMB 5.9B). China often outdoes itself, but the fact that 2021’s Lunar New Year frame came with Covid capacity restrictions makes the performance even more staggering.

Shares in Imax surged after China's Lunar New Year holiday propelled tentpoles like Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom to blowout box office performances. Market analysts and beleaguered North American exhibitors are watching China's holiday opening weekend this year for signs of an eventual full recovery globally from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A comeback story is underway at China's booming theatrical box office. Beijing Culture's time-travel comedy Hi, Mom, which opened the Lunar New Year holiday in distant second place behind Wanda Picture's Detective Chinatown 3, has suddenly surged to the front of the pack.

What a difference a year makes. After a 12-month postponement caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Wanda Pictures' much anticipated comedy tentpole Detective Chinatown 3 finally opened in China Friday for the first day of the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.

Refresh for latest…: Chinese moviegoers ushered in the Year of the Ox with the colossal three-day debut of Detective Chinatown 3 grossing an estimated RMB 2.56B ($397M). This tops Avengers: Endgame’s 2019 five-day China bow of RMB 2.22B to make DC3 not only the biggest opener in Chinese history, but also giving it bragging rights to the biggest opening weekend ever in a single market — overtaking Endgame’s North American launch of $357M from April 2019.

Rebecca Davis editorChina made history this weekend with record sales of nearly $775 million (RMB50 billion) within the first three days of the Chinese New Year holiday, led by an incredible $424 million (RMB2.74 billion) debut from “Detective Chinatown 3.”This marked the first time the country’s national box office has ever broken RMB1 billion ($155 million) a day for three consecutive days, a feat achieved despite caps on max theater capacity at 75% in most of the country and 50% in areas