By After last week’s triumphant re-opening of movie theaters in China, it seems like the momentum isn’t dying down anytime soon. For its second weekend since quarantine bans were lifted, China’s box-office report shows continued growth for films in the region. For some bizarre reason, Dolittle is still the number one film, but some local films are starting to climb the ranks alongside our Hollywood garbage.
As reported by Deadline, cinemas in low-risk areas have turned in around $4 million. That’s an increase to the tune of 39% versus last week (which was already an impressive re-opening). Around 60% of theaters in the nation are operating and are held back by capacity limits and such. When those are fully lifted, we can expect even bigger returns.
As for which films are doing well, the aforementioned Dolittle brought in another $9.4 million. I’m sure Universal didn’t expect much from the film, despite Robert Downey Jr.’s presence, but these numbers must be joyous. Coming in second is a Chinese film called The Enigma of Arrival, which pulled $1.35 million on Friday. It was originally slated to open over Valentine’s Day weekend, but obviously, the coronavirus had other plans.
Coming in third is another Chinese film, Mr. Miao, which is being compared to Princess Mononoke. It debuted with $416,000, but you can’t knock that in our current market. It managed to beat out Sonic the Hedgehog, which raked in $315,000. That’s impressive.
Other international markets are also starting to re-open and have been seeing similar growth. Korea, in particular, is doing splendid and that’s surely the kind of news that executives want to hear. So far, it seems like America is the only market that will have to wait, despite being home to some of the world’s most popular films. If people could simply just wear damn masks, then we wouldn’t be in this current issue.
Source: Deadline
