Successor Tops China’s Weekend Box Office

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The Chinese comedy-drama “Successor” dominated the weekend box office with an impressive $89.1 million, pushing aside Hollywood’s “Twisters.”

Why it matters: “Successor” is rapidly emerging as one of China’s biggest movies of the year, providing a welcome boost to the industry after a slow start to the crucial summer holiday season.

The details:

• “Successor” earned RMB633 million ($89.1 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to Artisan Gateway.
• The film had already accumulated RMB1.55 billion ($219 million) due to previews and an early release on July 16.
• It is co-directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo and stars the popular comedic duo Shen Teng and Ma Li.
• The movie satirizes wealthy, controlling “tiger parents” and has touched a nerve in China.

The reaction: Early reviews have been mostly positive, with praise for the performances and gag-filled script. However, some viewers felt the criticism of tiger parents was heavy-handed.

The competition: “A Place Called Silence” held second place with $16.4 million, while “Your Name” and “Despicable Me 4” took third and fourth, respectively. Notably, “Twisters” earned just $1.5 million in China, a stark contrast to its $80 million North American debut.

The big picture: China’s 2024 summer box office has exceeded 6 billion yuan ($841 million) as of Monday, with three domestic films topping the chart. “Successor” alone accounts for 26.4% of the total.

What’s next: “Successor” is set for an early August release in English-language territories, distributed by CMC Pictures. The film is expected to match the success of Shen and Ma’s previous hits, which grossed 1.4 billion yuan and 2.5 billion yuan.

Full story

The Chinese weekend box office saw a major shake-up as the Chinese-produced comedy-drama “Successor” dominated with an impressive $89.1 million weekend, pushing aside the Hollywood action film “Twisters.”

Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed “Successor” earning RMB633 million ($89.1 million) between Friday and Sunday in China. Despite this being its official first weekend, “Successor” had already accumulated RMB1.55 billion ($219 million) due to two days of wide screenings a weekend earlier, which were considered previews. The film’s official release was also moved forward to Tuesday, July 16, allowing it to get a head start over weaker titles.

“Successor” is co-directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo, known for “Hello, Mr Billionaire” and “Goodbye, Mr Loser,” and stars Shen Teng, Ma Li, Shi Pengyuan, Sa Rina, and Xiao Bochen. The film’s overseas distributor, CMC Pictures, plans to capitalize on its momentum, with a release in English-language territories scheduled for early August. “A Place Called Silence,” which was the top film two weeks ago, held on to second position but saw a 50% drop in its third week of release.

With a weekend score of $16.4 million, it has now accumulated $156 million since July 3. The re-release of the 2016 Japanese animation film “Your Name” secured third place with $11.5 million over three days.

Successor shakes up box office

“Despicable Me 4” earned $7.3 million in fourth place. After two weeks, it now has a cumulative total of $32.5 million in China. “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf 9,” a long-running Chinese animation franchise favorite, opened with $4.6 million.

Including advanced screenings, its cumulative total reached $5.4 million by Sunday. Interestingly, Artisan Gateway did not report data for “Twisters,” which had a synchronized release with North American and international markets. Other data providers estimated the film earned just $1.5 million in its opening three days in China.

This starkly contrasts with its $80 million debut in the North American market, where it ranked first globally. Comscore reported “Successor” as the world’s number two film over the latest weekend.