China Box Office: ‘New Gods: Yang Jian’ Repeats Weekend Win

Patrick Frater
·2 min read
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Chinese animation film “New Gods: Yang Jian” was the top film at the mainland China box office for the second successive weekend.

Unchallenged by major new releases, the film earned $13.0 (RMB88.3 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway. That was a drop of 34% compared with its $19.8 million opening session.

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Some $1.5 million of the weekend total was scored from the film’s outing on Imax screens.

After ten days on release “Yang Jian” has a cumulative total of $43.7 million (RMB297 million). Of that, its Imax total is now $4 million.

“New Gods: Yang Jian” is a continuation of the “New Gods” franchise from Light Chaser Animation, the studio behind 2021 hit “New Gods: Nezha Reborn” and 2019’s “White Snake.” The new film revolves around Yang Jian, a mythological figure from the Ming Dynasty and who was featured in historical novel “The Investiture of the Gods.”

Previous chart topper “Moon Man” was not far behind, but remained in second place. It earned $12.2 million (RMB83.3 million) and now has a cumulative of $421 million (RMB2.86 billion) since releasing on July 29.

“Warriors of Future,” a Hong Kong-produced sci-fi title, earned $7.4 million (RMB50.6 million) in third place over the weekend. Since releasing on Aug. 5, it has now amassed $88.5 million (RMB602 million).

“Minions: The Rise of Gru” earned $6.5 million (RMB44.4 million) in its second weekend, a drop of 44% from its $11.6 million debut. It now has $24.4 million (RMB166 million) from ten days in Chinese theaters.

Overseas media have reported that Chinese authorities changed the film’s ending to show that crime does not pay. Chinese viewers seem to like it well enough. On the Taopiaopiao ticketing platform they gave it a mean 8.8 out of 10 approval rating. On Maoyan the score was 9.0.

The highest-ranking new release film was Japanese animation “Belle” which took 1.5 million (RMB10.4 million) and placed fifth.

With three animated titles in the top five and the chart looking less than fresh, the nationwide box office total over the weekend slipped to $45.6 million. The running total for the year-to-date is now $3.57 billion, some 26% below the equivalent score at the same point in 2021.

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