The Chinese cinema box office experienced its lowest weekend revenue in over a year, generating only $21 million. Despite this, familiar titles managed to maintain their positions at the top of the chart.
A Comedy Film Takes the Lead
In its sixth weekend of release, the fish-out-of-water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” held onto its top spot at the China box office. Three of the other top five films also remained unchanged from the previous week, except for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” which replaced “The Beekeeper” in fourth place.
“Jonny Keep Walking” earned an impressive $8.1 million (RMB57.3 million) during the weekend, bringing its cumulative total to $171 million (RMB1.21 billion) since its release on December 29.
Hong Kong Films Secure Their Spots
The Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll,” featuring Aaron Kwok, Richie Jen, and Lam Ka-tung, maintained its position in second place. However, it only garnered $2.9 million (RMB20.5 million) during the weekend, resulting in a cumulative total of $29.6 million since its release on January 19.
Another Hong Kong film, “The Goldfinger,” achieved nearly identical earnings of $2.9 million, securing third place. Its cumulative total currently stands at $76.9 million since its release on December 30.
Other Noteworthy Performances
“Aquaman 2,” which premiered on December 20, earned $1 million (RMB7.2 million) during the weekend, accumulating a total of $63.8 million thus far.
“Follow Bear for Adventure” retained its fifth position with earnings of $950,000 (RMB6.8 million), bringing its cumulative total to $14.1 million.
Market Challenges and Upcoming Titles
Across the country, cinemas amassed a combined revenue of $21.2 million. This represents the lowest weekend score since China lifted its strict anti-COVID measures in December 2022. The scarcity of new film releases during this period is expected to change with the influx of upcoming titles, coinciding with the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Artisan Gateway reports that the total box office revenue for this year currently stands at $391 million.
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