China Box Office: ‘Never Say Never’ Takes Top Spot as Local Films Dominate Weekend

Local titles dominated at the mainland Chinese cinema box office over the latest weekend. Never Say Never overtook the previous sensation Lost in the Stars to lead another strong summer session.

Never Say Never (aka Octagonal) released officially on Thursday, ahead of Chinas more normal Friday system. It earned $55.3 million (RMB384 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to verified data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. To that can be added some $9.6 million from Thursday and over $60 million previews and the film finished Sunday with a cumulative of $121 million.

Co-written and directed by actor Wang Baoqiang (Lost in Thailand, Detective Chinatown), the film tells a tale of a man who tries to teach orphans about martial arts. But he is publicly shamed after his efforts are misinterpreted.

According to local sources, however, Lost in the Stars was the top-scoring film on both Thursday and Friday, before Never Say Never dominated with Saturday and Sunday crowd.

Lost in the Stars earned a further $44.1 million (RMB318 million) between Friday and Sunday for a cumulative of $428 million after 18 days in Chinese cinemas.

Lightchaser animation Chang An got its official release only on Saturday, but nevertheless placed third in the weekend chart with $24.8 million (RMB178 million) from just two days of business. Including last weeks previews, the film now has a cumulative of $27.8 million (RMB200 million).

Hong Kong-produced action franchise film The White Storm: Heaven or Hell opened on Thursday. Over three days, it earned $17.9 million (RMB129 million). Over four days it earned $24.4 million.

Alpha Pictures Super Wings: Jett Run, a Chinese-made movie adaptation of a Korean kids animation series opened on Saturday and placed fifth over the weekend with $4.8 million.

The latest weekend saw aggregate nationwide box office of $152 million. Artisan Gateway calculates that is some 61% ahead of last years score at the same time of year, and only 11% behind the same point in 2019.

According to local data sources, the top-ranked Hollywood film in China over the last weekend was Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. It earned close to $500,000 for a 31-day cumulative of $95.0 million.

The Super Wings property provides an interesting footnote to the geopolitical controversies that dog the film industry in East Asia.

Currently, the most prominent dispute is over films depicting maps of Asia. Upcoming Hollywood release Barbie has been banned in Vietnam for showing a map that depicts Chinas disputed claims that much of the South China Sea is its territory.

Chinese state media reports that in 2021, China banned the Korean-made Super Wings series from screening on TV and streaming channels due to its inclusion of a map that omitted Tibet and showed Taiwan as a separate country from the Peoples Republic of China. China used military force in 1950 to take control of Tibet. China also claims that Taiwan is a rebel force with which it will be united by force if necessary.

According to Chinese state media, Super Wings got other piece of history wrong, by describing the Mid-Autumn Festival as Korean in origin. Chinese authorities say that the holiday originated in China and was later adopted in the Korean peninsula.

Korean-produced movies have not been allowed to be imported into China since early 2016, due to another geopolitical dispute.

China banned Korean movies in retaliation for the Korean governments decision to allow the installation of the U.S.-backed THAAD missile defense system on its territory. And, while there have been public statements about rapprochement and the restart of Korean content imports, these have been at a low level in TV and close to zero in film. For several years now, Chinese companies have preferred to buy or license Korean IP and remake it as a Chinese product.