Warner Bros.’s “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” made theatrical debuts in China that were in line with their soft starts in North America and other international territories.
“The Flash” captured the top spot in China with a $13.4 million (RMB94.8 million) opening weekend ($13.8 million including previews), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.
It deposed “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which opened a week earlier and which slipped to second place in its sophomore frame. “Transformers” took a 69% fall and recorded $12.4 million between Friday and Sunday in China. That produces a $61.7 million cumulative after ten days in Chinese theaters.
Giant screen systems provider Imax reported that “The Flash” earned $2.3 million of its total on the company’s screens in China and that “Transformers” earned $600,000 at its China sites.
“Elemental” opened in third place with $5.3 million (RMB37.4 million).
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” slipped from second place to fourth in its third weekend of release. It earned $3.7 million (RMB26.3 million), for a running total of $41.3 million in China.
Long-playing Chinese film “Godspeed” earned $2.7 million in fifth place. That gives it a cumulative total of $163 million since releasing on April 28.
While Hollywood can take some cheer from scooping the top four places in China’s box office chart, the films’ performance is lackluster and China’s nationwide theatrical recovery momentum is slowing. Across all of China, cinema box office fell to $45.5 million over the weekend, down from $61 million a week earlier.
Artisan Gateway calculates that the year-to-date aggregate is $3.37 billion. That is a 46% improvement on a miserable COVID-affected 2022 and currently some 20% below 2019 levels.
