Chinese mystery drama “Lost in the Stars” expanded in its second week on release and gave China its third biggest box office weekend of the year. That local success came as Hollywood tentpole “Indiana Jones: The Dial of Destiny” failed to land a top five place in the Middle Kingdom on its debut weekend.
“Indiana Jones” earned just $2.4 million in China, according to estimates from local data providers. It played some 25,000 screenings per day on Friday but earned less than $900,000. Exhibitors then slashed the number of sessions by half on Saturday. They further trimmed the number of playdates on Sunday when it slipped to seventh place. Consultancy, Artisan Gateway did not provide confirmed data for “Indiana Jones” in China.
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“Lost in the Stars” earned $117 million, according to Artisan Gateway. That was significantly up from its opening weekend of $70.7 million (RMB502 million) a week earlier and enough to make it the second biggest film on the planet, behind “Indiana Jones,” which was more successful in other territories. After two weekends on release, “Lost in the Stars” has accumulated $320 million.
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“Lost in the Stars” is a Chinese adaptation of a 1990 Russian movie “A Trap for the Lonely Man,” which itself was adapted from a Robert Thomas stage play. It sees a woman disappear while on an overseas trip with her husband. Just as mysteriously, she reappears at the moment that the search for her is running out of steam. But the man refuses to accept that she is the same woman and believes that she is an imposter.
The Chinese adaptation was scripted by hitmaker Chen Sicheng (“Detective Chinatown” franchise) and co-directed by Liu Xiang (“Knock Knock”) and Cui Rui. The cast is headed by Zhu Yilong, Ni Ni, Janice Man and Du Jiang.
“Never Say Never,” written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (“Lost in Thailand,” “Detective Chinatown””) does not officially release in China until July 6. Nevertheless, its previews were strong enough to earn it $25.6 million and take second place over the weekend. Earnings to date add up to $38.9 million.
Chinese romance film “Love Never Ends” earned $10.7 million. With a five-day opening a week earlier, the film now has a cumulative score of $45 million.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” was the top Hollywood title in China, earning $3.8 million in fourth position. Its cumulative total is $85.4 million.
Previews for Lightchaser animation “Chang An” earned the film fifth place and $3.2 million of advanced revenue. It releases officially on July 8.
The strong performances of the top two films, in particular, made it a big weekend. Nationwide gross revenue was $170 million. Artisan Gateway calculates that the year-to-date total is $3.77 billion. That is 56% ahead of the same point last year and 14% behind the equivalent in 2019.
