China Box Office: 'Planet of the Apes' Wins Slowest Weekend of the Year

In the quietest weekend at the China box office this year, “War for the Planet of the Apes” held on to top spot. It headed a chart made up where foreign films took the top places and Chinese titles entered the chart with previews of the pictures that will enliven next week’s National Day Holiday period.

“Apes” added $18.6 million in its second frame, down from its $60 million opening. After 10 days on release it has a cumulative of $99.5 million, according to data from Ent Group. IMAX reports that the film scored $1.6 million from 435 screens, lifting its IMAX cumulative in China to $7.3 million.

New release, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” shot out $13.7 million. That was only good enough for second place, despite having slightly more screenings than “Apes” on two of its three first days.

Cumulative takings for the top ten films was just $48 million. Earlier, the slowest weekend had been the April 7-9 session when “Ghost in the Shell” briefly claimed the top spot.

In that weak environment, Spanish thriller “Contratiempo” climbed from fourth place last week to third. Its score also improved from $4.95 million to $6.38 million.

Fourth placed was “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which took $5.65 million. After 17-days on release it has a $115 million cumulative.

New release kids title “Thomas and Friends: The Great Race” took fifth spot. Playing 10,000 screenings on Friday and expanding to 15,000 on Saturday and Sunday, it took $1.69 million.
China’s all-time box office champion “Wolf Warriors II” followed in sixth with $880,000. That lifted its cumulative to $858 million.

Previews of Chinese animation “The Floating Planet” were worth $530,000, giving the film seventh place, even before release. Japanese animation, “Sword Art online: Ordinal Scale” came eighth with $490,000, for a cumulative of $7.82 million after 10-days. Chinese music-themed comedy, “City of Rock” earned $460,000 in previews, good enough for ninth place. Chinese war film, “Defenders” brought up the rear with $330,000 in its first three days.

One film that will not be releasing next weekend is “Feng Xiaogang’s “Youth.” The film about Vietnamese war veterans, which screened in the Toronto festival, had been scheduled for release on Sept 29. Ticket pre-sales have been halted and no new release date announced.

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