After the opening week of the Chinese hit comedy film "Pancake Man" in North America, the superhero spoof has claimed the second biggest first week box-office sales performance of a Chinese mainland movie in the region.
"Pancake Man," also known as "Jianbing Man," earned a total of $419,933 since July 30. The record comes behind the $427,523 figure of last year's hit, "Breakup Buddies."
However, in terms of per-screen average, the film posted $30,537 for 14 screens, compared with the record holder's 29.
The North American release of the film was managed by rights holder Magnum Films, as represented by Asia Releasing.
To create a near day-and-date synchronization with the Chinese release, which was July 17, and to avoid piracy, the film was distributed on such date. The strategic date was also intended to maximize the probability of catching the attention of North America's "overseas Chinese" moviegoers.
Since the release of "Pancake Man" in Chinese mainland, the film has already pulled in a cumulative total of $157 million, according to Entgroup data. Though it failed to top the charts, the movie grabbed the record for the biggest opening weekend by a 2D film.
Locally, the film that follows the story of a street pancake vendor-turned-superhero was released by the entertainment giant Wanda Pictures.
The comedy hit was helmed by director Da Peng and top-billed by Ada Liu, Yuan Shanshan, and Hong Kong's Eric Tsang and Sandra Ng. Jean Claude van Damme also made a cameo appearance, which was a pivotal point in the plot.