‘A Dog’s Purpose’ Triumphs in China’s Box-Office Race

Another Hollywood movie has the Chinese audience to thank for improving its box-office results. Even if China is notorious for its Yulin Dog Meat Festival, the country has a growing number of pet dog lovers that made up the bulk of moviegoers who watched “A Dog’s Purpose” and helped the movie earn 240 million yuan ($34.7 million) for eight days of exhibition.

Almost the same amount was earned by the Oscar Best Picture nominee “La La Land,” but it was for 25 days of showing. “A Dog’s Purpose” cost $22 million to produce, while the budget of “Logan” was almost five time, but the Wolverine movie – which premiered on the same day as “A Dog’s Purpose,” earned only two times as much as the animal-themed movie, Caixin reported.

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In the U.S., the movie was panned for being too sugary and for tugging at “heartstrings with shameless abandon” as well as generated controversy over the film staff forcing the frightened dog to jump into the water in one scene. But Gavin Palone, producer of the movie, although he apologized for the incident, pointed out that the dog jumped into the water eagerly during rehearsals and during filming although he did not witness the controversial scene that went viral online.

The strong showing of “A Dog’s Purpose” banked on promotional activities that targeted the owners of the 62 million registered dogs in China, women and families. Across shopping malls in China, Alibaba organized several dog adoption activities.

A newer report said that after 10 days of showing in China, “A Dog’s Purpose,” produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and backed by Alibaba Pictures which has a minority stake in Amblin, earned $53.6 million. In North America, the movie earned $61.7 million since it was released on Jan. 27, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In contrast, “Logan,” after debuting $49 million for three days, slipped to $18.6 million, amassing $87.2 million after two weekends.