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China’s third Friday back to the movies scored a slight increase on last week’s comparable day at $4.38M. It’s short of the $7.6M generated last Sunday which was boosted by Warner Bros’ reissue of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, but still a jump on last Friday, while midweeks were solid. Play today was led by DreamWorks/Amblin/Universal’s 1917 with $1.77M.
This is the first time Sam Mendes’ awards season war movie was released in China after having been sidelined by COVID earlier in the year, and is again testament to audience appetite for new films as cinemas resume operations. It’s also an example of a film that drives desire for the big-screen experience. Alibaba Pictures releases locally where 1917 has an 8.5 score on Douban and a 9 on Maoyan.
Meanwhile, Universal’s Dolittle has reached RMB 101.6M ($14.58M) according to Maoyan which means the Robert Downey Jr-starrer is headed to the No. 1 spot of the year, so far, for a Hollywood movie in the Middle Kingdom. Over the weekend, it should edge out Fox/Disney’s Spies In Disguise (RMB 103.4M/$14.95M).
Interstellar, for its part, rode from Sunday through Thursday at No. 1, and has cumed $8.24M in the re-release. As we wrote yesterday, Nolan’s Inception is having its 10th anniversary resissue in China on August 28, followed by his Tenet, the first major new tentpole of 2020 since the pandemic began. Tenet goes on September 4 in the Middle Kingdom after beginning offshore rollout on August 26. Coronavirus-imposed capacity and screening limits are still likely to be in place in China, though perhaps somewhat less stringently. Tenet was shot with IMAX cameras and almost all IMAX screens there are expected to be open by the time the movie hits theaters. This is good news.
Also in China today, Fox/Disney’s great racing drama Ford V Ferrari bowed with $324K. It has an 8.6 on Douban, but may have been dented today by the long running time. Intermissions are being imposed in some areas for films over two hours and so some exhibitors may be shying on screening it, we’ve heard. But it could still pull up over the weekend.
Elsewhere at the international box office already this week, Korea has yet another new hit on its hands. Deliver Us From Evil, from director Hong Won-chan has delivered $6.85M since bowing on Wednesday. The action crime film is the latest in a streak of local winners. Peninsula, which is nearing $27M in Korea, releases today in Canada, followed by the U.S. on August 21.
And, STX’s Gerard Butler-starrer Greenland had a strong opening in France on Wednesday with 31K admissions for a take of $250K. The start was 8% ahead of Angel Has Fallen and 61% ahead of Olympus Has Fallen — and that’s with capacity and screening restrictions. Despite a heatwave throughout most of the country, the film added another 22.5K admissions on Thursday in further testament to the taste for something new.
We’ll have more updates through the weekend.