Chinese box office: ‘Barbie’ opens in fifth place with 8 million dollars

BarbieThe phenomenal box office opening in the US was not matched in China, not even close.

The Greta Gerwig-directed Warner Bros. blockbuster opened to just $8 million in China, finishing the weekend in fifth place behind a string of local Chinese hits. In North America, the film opened to a record-breaking $155 million.

The soft start for Barbie it continues a trend of Hollywood films making far less in China than they once did. by Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, first part it badly missed its China opener the previous weekend with a third-place finish behind a pair of Chinese losses.

Word of mouth for Barbie it was strong, despite tepid sales. His social scores are 9.4 on Maoyan, 9.3 on Taopiaopiao and 8.6 on Douban. On Monday, the good buzz seemed to be giving Barbie a modest boost, with its sales ranking climbing to third place for the day.

However, on the weekend Barbie it faced formidable local competition. Historical fantasy epic Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Stormsthe starting film in the long scheduled Fengshen Trilogy, released Thursday and topped the charts Friday through Sunday with $42.6 million. Directed by Wuershan (Painted leather) and executive producer of Bill Kong (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon), Creation of the gods is one of the most visually ambitious Chinese films in recent memory, earning comparisons with Lord of the Rings OR Game of Thrones. It earned $53.7 million, including on Thursday, a less than explosive opening given the industry’s many years of anticipation for the franchise.

Light Chaser animation Chang An it added $40.6 million in its third weekend of release, bringing its total to $168 million and making it one of the most successful original Chinese animated films of all time. Third place went to Wonder family from the hit comedy group Mahua FunAge (The man in the moon, Goodbye loser). It debuted to $31.3 million in its first three days. And Wang Baoqiang’s latest hit, Never say neverit slipped to fourth in its third weekend, adding $20.6 million for a running total of $261 million.