China Box Office: ‘The Captain’ Flies to $340 Million After Two Weeks of Release

Patrick Frater

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Patriotic thriller “The Captain” held on to the top spot at the Chinese box office for the second weekend, again leading from propaganda omnibus “My People, My Country.”

“The Captain,” also known as “The Chinese Pilot” earned $34.9 million according to consultancy Artisan Gateway, for a two-week cumulative of $343 million. The cumulative for “People,” which had a huge opening day on Sept. 30, is higher still, at $362 million.

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Both films were released in time for the National Day celebrations and the week-long public holiday in China. So large a large drop in individual and cumulative weekend scores was to be expected after the return to work. But per screening average grosses, at over $350 a time, remained very solid.

One of the few newcomers to make it into the chart was Hong Kong-made crime thriller “A Witness Out of the Blue,” starring the ever-popular Louis Koo. It made $14.8 million in just two days after a Saturday release.

Patriotic, mountaineering action adventure, “The Climbers” added $12.4 million in fourth place. Its cumulative stands at $138 million after two weeks on release.

“Abominable,” the U.S-Chinese cartoon from Dreamworks and Pearl Studios, slipped to fifth place. It earned just $1 million over the weekend for a $14 million cumulative after 13 days.

Despite the end of the holiday, the weekend box office was worth $91 million. That keeps the year to date total 3.9% ahead of this point last year, with a running total of $7.52 billion.

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