China Box Office: ‘Big Red Envelope’ Opens With $8 Million Weekend

The new Chinese film Detective Chinatown 3 just broke the record for the biggest opening day in a single market.

China's Lunar New Year box office opened with a roar Friday. Wanda Pictures' Detective Chinatown 3 was leading the pack of seven new releases as expected.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Detective Chinatown 3” lived up to its billing as the box office favorite over the Chinese New Year holiday period, with first day grosses passing $150 million by 4pm local time.Data from ticketing agency Maoyan showed the franchise comedy adventure film as clocking up RMB975 million of revenues, and claiming over 60% of the nationwide box office total.

China's comedy tentpole Detective Chinatown 3 is already doing gangbusters business ahead of its release on Friday, the first day of the lucrative Lunar New Year holiday in the country. The wildly anticipated franchise sequel has earned $85 million (RMB 548 million) in advance ticket sales, according to Artisan Gateway, which means Avengers: Endgame's all-time China presales sales record of $95.5 million (RMB 615.3 million) is well within striking distance.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMore than 80% of movie tickets in China are sold online or via mobile device, one of the world’s highest penetration rates.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThis month’s Chinese New Year holidays will be a litmus test for the strength of China’s film industry recovery following a period of unprecedented turmoil.This time last year, China’s wrecked Spring Festival celebrations were emblematic of the coronavirus crisis that had dramatically engulfed the world’s most populous nation and was soon to become a global pandemic.

China's multiplexes were mostly silent over the weekend as the country—and its film industry—continued to gear up for the lucrative Lunar New Year holiday. Total ticket sales were just $22.9 million, the lowest of any weekend so far in 2021.

Rebecca Davis editorIn China’s second quiet weekend in a row with no notable new releases, Disney/Pixar’s “Soul” continued to hold its own, managing a sixth place finish after 45 days in theaters as local consumers looked ahead to the blockbuster bonanza of the upcoming Chinese New Year.The key week-long holiday, which runs from Feb. 12 to 17 this year, typically accounts for nearly 10% of China’s annual national box office.

Disney/Pixar’s Soul continues to shine overseas with a $96.2M cume after seven frames. In 11 markets this session, the Pete Docter-helmed original added $6.9M to its international box office kitty with No. 1s again in Russia and Korea. In China, it has surpassed Incredibles 2 to become the market’s 2nd highest-grossing Pixar title ever.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChart positions for the top five films remained largely unchanged over the weekend in China, as the Middle Kingdom’s box office returned to a familiar early-year torpor.Data from Artisan Gateway shows that aggregate revenues amounted to $32.8 million over the Friday to Sunday period, down from $37.5 million the previous weekend.

Holdover play continued to dominate the international box office this weekend, notably Disney/Pixar’s Soul which led the frame with $9.3M in 13 markets amid scant drops in both Russia and Korea. This brings the offshore total to $85.2M.

its ongoing lies and distortion and insisting that their official death toll is underreported by as much as tens of thousands.Called “In The Same Breath,” the HBO film begins hours after a massive New Year’s Eve celebration in Wuhan, China, a city of 11 million and the one-time epicenter of the pandemic.The next day, a slew of robotic news anchors recited a government script, meant to minimize the impending disaster.

straight to your inbox every day for freeOdion Ighalo has penned an emotional Manchester United farewell message as his time at Old Trafford comes to an end.The 31-year-old striker's loan from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua expires at the end of this month. The Nigeria international joined United in January last year on an initial six-month deal that was later extended to 12 months.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefSingapore-based TV production firm, Beach House Pictures is expanding its Asian production capacity. It has acquired a majority stake in Japanese producer Vesuvius Pictures and appointed Felix Feng as GM in China.Founded in 2012, Vesuvius specializes in premium original factual, factual entertainment, reality and scripted programming.