China’s Box Office Invaded: ‘Alien: Romulus’ Lands with a Bang

Hola, my fellow Bollywood gossipmongers! It’s your favorite snarky commentator, Hollywood Hrishita, here to spill the tea on the latest Hollywood box office shenanigans from the land of dragons and dumplings—China! 🍜

Alien: Romulus stomped into Chinese cinemas this weekend, flexing its extraterrestrial muscles and bagging a whopping RMB186 million ($26.2 million) from Friday to Sunday. And oh, the Imax screens? They threw in a sweet $5.02 million. Not bad for a franchise that’s as foreign to China as chopsticks are to a burger joint!

But let’s be real, Hollywood has been struggling harder than a Bollywood starlet at a dance audition over the past five years. Gone are the days when Western blockbusters ruled the roost. Now, it’s all about the local flavors. So, kudos to Alien: Romulus for bucking the trend!

And speaking of trends, let’s not forget the underdog story of the weekend. Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram gave Alien: Romulus a run for its money on Friday. But by Sunday, our interstellar hero had kicked Conan to third place. Don’t worry, Conan fans, your fave detective rebounded to second place on Monday. 📈

Oh, and the local hero? That would be Go for Broke (aka Chong Sheng), the crime action flick that snagged RMB102 million ($14.3 million). Directed by Marc Ma, this one’s about a man avenging his family against drug dealers. Because, of course, nothing says box office gold like a good ol’ revenge tale!

In fourth place, we have the melodramatic juggernaut Successor, still raking in the dough with another $8.8 million this weekend. Since its release on July 16, it’s amassed a staggering RMB3.13 billion ($441 million). Talk about family drama paying off, huh?

And then there’s White Snake: Afloat, the Chinese animation fantasy that slipped to fifth place but still managed to pocket RMB49.5 million ($7 million). After nine days, it’s sitting pretty at a cumulative $41.8 million. 🐍

The summer box office season in China has been sizzling, with state media boasting about an aggregate revenue of RMB10 billion ($1.4 billion) from June 1 to August 17. Looks like the dragon is breathing fire!

Even the Hollywood summer stragglers are cashing in. Despicable Me 4 and Deadpool & Wolverine have crossed the $50 million mark, with $53 million and $58 million respectively. Not too shabby for our Western pals!

Artisan Gateway reports that June 1 – July 31 saw a revenue of RMB7.6 billion ($1.1 billion), which is a 41% decrease compared to last year. Despite adding more cinema complexes, China’s year-to-date box office is still lagging by nearly $1 billion compared to 2023.

Moral of the Story: If you want to conquer the box office, you might need to team up with an alien or a detective, throw in some family drama, and maybe, just maybe, consider a career in revenge. 🎬🤷‍♀️

Until next time, keep your popcorn ready and your gossip juicier!

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