China Box Office: ‘Alien: Romulus’ Makes Robust Debut

“Alien: Romulus” enjoyed strong Saturday and Sunday showings in Chinese cinemas to take a robust opening weekend win and stay ahead of Japanese animation title “Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram.”

“Alien: Romulus” earned RMB186 million ($26.2 million) over the Friday-Sunday weekend in China, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. Some $5.02 million of that came from Imax screens.

The figures are strong considering that Hollywood titles generally have struggled over the past five years, compared with the earlier 2010s era when audiences were more in tune with western values and local films were weaker.

The figures are also strong considering that the “Alien” franchise does not have deep roots in China. “Alien Covenant” was released in June 2017 and earned $29.1 million in its opening weekend, before going on to a $45.5 million total. But 2012 predecessor “Prometheus” did not have a theatrical release in China.

“Alien: Romulus,” did not have things all its own way over the weekend. On its Friday opening day, the film was bested by “Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram,” according to local data providers. Positions were reversed on Saturday. And on Sunday “Detective Conan” took third place. (Live preliminary data for Monday shows “Detective Conan” rebounding to second place behind “Alien: Romulus”.)

Artisan Gateway reports “Detective Conan” taking a net second place with RMB119 million ($16.7 million) between Friday and Sunday.

Another new release title, and the leading Chinese film of the weekend, took third place. Crime actioner, “Go for Broke” (aka “Chong Sheng”) earned RMB102 million ($14.3 million) over three days, though it took second place on the daily charts on Sunday. Directed by Marc Ma, an actor turned writer-director-producer who last year directed “Wolf Hiding,” the film tells the story of a man whose family was devastated by drug dealers. He takes his revenge by secretly teaming up with the police to destroy a criminal group.

“Successor,” the family drama film that is this summer’s biggest hit in China, added a further $8.8 million in fourth place. Since its release a month ago, on 16 July, “Successor” has earned RMB3.13 billion ($441 million).

Chinese animation fantasy, “White Snake: Afloat” earned RMB49.5 million ($7 million) and slipped to fifth place in its second weekend. (The film was previously given a Saturday release on Qixi Day, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, and earned $19 million in two days.) After nine days on release, its cumulative is now $41.8 million.

Numerous reports in Chinese state media have touted strong showings during the unofficial summer box office season, including RMB10 billion ($1.4 billion) of aggregate revenue in the period from June 1 to Aug. 17.

Two summer release Hollywood films that are still playing in Chinese cinemas have passed the symbolic $50 million revenue mark. “Despicable Me 4” has some $53 million and “Deadpool & Wolverine” some $58 million, according to Chinese data providers.

Artisan Gateway previously reported that the June 1 – July 31 period saw revenue of RMB7.6 billion ($1.1 billion) or a 41% decrease compared with the same two-month period last year. China’s year-to-date box office aggregate is now $4.48 billion, which the firm calculates as a 20.7%, or nearly $1 billion, deficit to 2023. That is despite a 4.6% increase in the number of cinema complexes in operation, to 12,515, according to state media.