‘Operation Red Sea’ still leads box office in China

BEIJING: Anti-terrorism movie Operation Red Sea topped the Chinese box office for the week ending Mar 4, earning 868 million yuan (about RM534 million), according to China Film News.

Red Sea is loosely based on the evacuation of hundreds of Chinese citizens and foreign nationals from Yemen’s southern port of Aden during the Yemeni civil war in late March 2015.

The film narrates the story of the Chinese Navy’s elite special forces, Jiaolong Assault Team, who saved Chinese and foreign nationals in the war and foiled a terrorist plot to obtain nuclear materials to make dirty bombs.

Since opening on Feb 16, the first day of the Lunar New Year, it had raked in nearly three billion yuan (RM1.875 billion).

Detective Chinatown 2 came in second, making about 483 million yuan at the box office last week. It has sold 3.1 billion yuan in tickets since hitting cinema screens, also on Feb 16.

Third was the domestic adventure film Monster Hunt 2, which took in 162 million yuan last week. Starring Hong Kong actor Tony Leung, it has paled in comparison with the original movie, which was the biggest blockbuster of 2015.

Documentary Amazing China landed in the fourth place, generating about 92 million yuan last week. The film was released on Mar 2.

Rounding out the top five was Sony’s animated adventure comedy Peter Rabbit, which has pocketed about 79 million yuan since its release on the Chinese mainland on Mar 2.

The Chinese box office grossed about 1.9 billion yuan last week, with nearly 53 million tickets sold.