Fish out of water comedy film “Jonny Keep Walking” kept its place at the top of the mainland China box office in its fourth weekend of release. Hong Kong-made action comedy “Rob N Roll” opened in second position.
“Jonny,” in which a man from the countryside struggles to hold down a corporate job in a big city, earned $15 million (RMB106 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. That was another strong hold after $19.7 million in the film’s third weekend and $22.4 million in its second frame. (On its opening weekend it was heavily beaten by “Shining for One Thing,” which has plunged out of the top five.) The cumulative total for “Jonny” is now $134 million (RMB951 million).
“Rob N Roll,” with its starry cast of Aaron Kwok, Richie Jen and Lam Ka-tung, opened with $12.1 million. It was produced in Hong Kong and directed by Albert Mak, who has associate director credits on Johnny To movies “Drug War” and “Life Without Principle.”.
Another Hong Kong-made film, “The Goldfinger” took 3.8 million in third place. Its cumulative stands at $64.6 million since releasing on Dec. 30.
Jason Statham-starring “The Beekeeper” maintained fourth place in China with $2.3 million. Its total after ten days on release stands at $9.5 million.
“Follow Bear for Action,” which previously opened ahead of “The Beekeeper” slipped to fifth place. It earned $1.8 million for a cumulative of $9.1 million.
China’s year-to-date box office total is $289 million, which Artisan Gateway calculates as 73% ahead of the same point in 2023. The cinema business in China had a slow start last year as COVID-related health restrictions had only briefly before been lifted (causing a large portion of the population to catch the disease in December 2022 and January 2023) and few new films entered the market.
Further complicating year-on-year comparisons in China is the timing of Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year, aka Spring Festival), which is a movable feast. Last year, it was in late January and with “The Wandering Earth II” and “Full River Red” broke records. This year, the holiday season begins later, on Feb. 10, and means that more significant comparisons will only emerge in March.
