‘Rampage’ ends ‘Ready Player One’ run at top
Dwayne Johnson film takes in $55.5 million in its first three days.
BEIJING — Warner Bros’ action-adventure “Rampage,” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, dominated China’s box office, raking in $55.5 million in its first three days and accounting for nearly half of the country’s box-office grosses last week.
The film performed much better than Johnson’s last release in China, “Jumanji,” which opened with $39.8 million, according to the film consulting firm Artisan Gateway.
Although “Rampage” did well in ticket sales, young Chinese moviegoers gave it lukewarm reviews. On the Chinese film-rating website Douban, it scored 6.8 out of 10, slightly lower than “Jumanji” (which came in at 7 out of 10). The film was criticized for its overt focus on special effects at the expense of a strong storyline.
Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” slid to second place after topping the box office in the previous two weeks, pulling in an additional $29.6 million for a total gross of $192.4 million in its third week in cinemas. The film has a good chance of becoming one of China’s top 10 imports of all time.
In third place was the Indian import “Hindi Medium,” an educationthemed comedy. Its gross dropped 62.7% last week to $8 million for $29.4 million after 12 days in theaters.
Skydance Productions’ “Annihilation,” overshadowed by “Rampage,” came in fourth last week with a disappointing $6.1 million after three days. The sci-fi thriller starring Natalie Portman has failed to impress Chinese filmgoers, who considered it inferior to other recent sci-fi titles.
The domestic crime thriller “Wrath of Silence” was the only Chinese-language film on the top five list. It earned $2.2 million for $8 million after 12 days.