‘Mr. Six’ is No. 1 as it soars past $100 million
‘Detective Chinatown’ lands in second place and ‘Mojin: The Lost Legend’ falls to third.
“Mr. Six,” a star-studded story of an aging ex-con brought out of retirement to help his son, soared past the $100-million mark at the Chinese box office last week.
The Huayi Bros. movie, featuring prominent director Feng Xiaogang in the title role, earned $67 million in the seven days that ended Sunday, according to film industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway. That brought its total earnings to $106 million since its Dec. 24 release.
In second place, Chen Sicheng’s suspense drama “Detective Chinatown” earned $65.2 million in its first four days in theaters, already outperforming the director’s 2014 directorial debut, “Beijing Love Story,” Artisan said.
“Mojin: The Lost Legend” fell to third place last week. But the grave-robbing tale directed by Wuershan has earned nearly $239 million in three weeks, making the fantasy epic from Wanda Pictures the third-highestgrossing Chinese-language film ever, trailing only “Monster Hunt” and “Lost in Hong Kong.”
Wanda’s parent company is finalizing a deal to buy Burbank-based Legendary Entertainment in a deal that could be announced as early as next week.
Rounding out the top five at the box office were two comedies: “Devil and Angel,” which has earned $97.7 million to date, and the new release “Heart for Heaven,” which opened on New Year’s Eve and took in $11.5 million through Sunday.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is set to open in China on Saturday.
Despite a slowing economy, China’s box-office receipts jumped nearly 50% between 2014 and 2015, the most rapid pace of growth in the last five years.
Mainland China has been the world’s second-biggest moviegoing market, behind only North America since 2012, with rapid growth fueled by a ballooning middle class and a surge in theater construction.