The Monkey King grossed an estimated $46 million this weekend, and almost all of that money came from China.
Donnie Yen in The Monkey King.
Global Star Productions / Via martialartsmoviejunkie.com
The highest-grossing movie in the world this weekend wasn't released in the United States, or in Europe, or in South America — but it was in China. The Monkey King opened in the world's most populous country, as well as six other territories, with an estimated $46 million, according to Variety . If those estimates hold, it will be nearly four times as much the top-grossing movie at the U.S. box office this weekend, the Kevin Hart-comedy Ride Along, with $12 million.
Following the exploits of a mystical, powerful monkey (Donnie Yen, also the film's fight choreographer), the 3D film is based in part off the 16th-century Chinese mythological novel Journey to the West. It debuted on the first day of the Chinese New Year, setting a new opening-day record in that country with an estimated $20 million. It also appears to have set a single-day record for IMAX in the entire world, with $1.8 million.
The success underlines the rapid growth of the Chinese box office, and why American studios have worked so tirelessly to schedule their films within the country (a process that requires a non-native film either be a Chinese co-production, or released in partnership with a Chinese exhibitor). Last year, Pacific Rim grossed more in China than it did in the U.S., and the top-grossing film in the U.S., Iron Man 3, came in second at the annual box office in China to a separate adaptation of Journey to the West, entitled Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons.
According to the Facebook page for The Monkey King, the film will be released in the U.S. this summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment