CHINA TO THE RESCUE
Despite a generally negative reaction from Chinese audiences, the Tom Cruise- led The Mummy remake performed very well in Chinese mainland theaters. The Mummy, which premiered in the Chinese mainland on June 9, earned 128 million yuan ($ 18.83 million) on its first day and 353 million yuan over its first weekend, taking the No. 1 spot both times. Superhero film Wonder Woman brought in 91 million yuan during its second weekend to take second place, while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales came in at third with 51 million yuan. As of Monday afternoon, The Mummy collected a total of 371 million yuan, closely following Wonder Woman’s 483 million yuan earned over 11 days. Meanwhile, Pirates has earned 1.11 billion yuan during its threeweek run.
Coming in at No. 4 was Indian sports film Dangal with 34 million yuan. Currrently the highest- grossing Indian film in the world thanks to the mainland market, Dangal has so far made 1.22 billion yuan after six weeks.
Chinese romance film How Are You placed fifth with 30 million yuan. Debuting on Friday, it was the only Chinese film to enter the top five.
The Mummy’s China performance was very different from the situation in North America where Wonder Woman – also in its second weekend there – far surpassed The Mummy’s weekend take of $ 32 million with an $ 57 million, according to estimates from Box Office Mojo.
The Mummy’s opening day box office was dismal in North America as well, only grossing $ 12 million – the lowest opening among all The Mummy films.
With a production budget of $ 125 million, it seems Universal will have to rely on the foreign market to make a profit with the blockbuster. Fortunately, The Mummy brought in more than $ 141 million outside North America, with the Chinese mainland market contributing more than a third of that total.
Despite the financial bump overseas, reviews of the new The Mummy film were low in both China and North America. The film has a 5.7/ 10 on Chinese film website Mtime and a 4.8/ 10 on Douban, while its grade on Rotten Tomatoes is a 4.3/ 10.
Demographic analysis by Chinese film statistic institution Maoyan show that audiences from second- tier cities in China showed the strongest interest in The Mummy. Of those surveyed, 42.9 percent of audiences in second- tier cities said they would like to see the film, followed by 20.4 percent in fourth- tier cities.