Chinese moviegoers have become more discriminating in their choice of films to watch, resulting in a substantial drop in the box office of both foreign and local movies.
Having major Hollywood A-listers as stars of the movie also is no guarantee of good box office receipts. It explains why “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” starring Tim Cruise, flopped in China. The topnotcher was “Mechanic: Resurrection,” an action film starring Jason Statham.
Variety reported that “Mechanic 2” earned $24.3 million in three days, followed by “Heartfall Arises,” a Hong Kong crime drama movie, starring Nicholas Tse, which earned $12 million in four days and another $8.86 million over the weekend.
In third place was “Operation Mekong,” which earned a total of $159 in 24 days of showing, although for the weekend, it earned $8.26 million. In fourth place is “Jack Reacher” with a box office of $5.91 million for three days.
Statham handily beat Cruise because of the past success of his action movies in China such as “Fast & Furious,” “The Expendables” and “The Transporter.” “Jack Reacher” apparently failed to reach the Chinese movie fan base even if Cruise made personal appearances in three mainland Chinese cities to promote the film.
But critics thumbed down “Mechanical Resurrection” for its clichéd plot, resulting in poor reviews, China Film Insider reported.