20120303114100127.jpg (Photo : Handout)
"Despicable Me 2" became the biggest box office hit in Chinese mainland beating all its rival movies in the week ending Jan. 12, according to China Film News Tuesday.
The 3-D animated cartoon grossed 97 million Yuan ($16.05 million) in ticket sales during the said week. The cartoon features the voices of Steve Carell, Kristeen Wiig and Miranda Cosgrove.
The top-grossing movie which opened in theatres in Chinese mainland on Jan. 10 is the sequel to "Despicable Me," Universal Pictures' iconic 2010 animated comedy. The futuristic film "Ender's Game," based on the best-selling novel with the same title by Orson Scott Card, was second in the tills, raking in 69.4 million yuan since it opened on Jan. 7. Asa Butterfield, a 16-year old newcomer stars in the film as the boy chosen by the International Military to be the protector and savior of the human race from the insect-like villains from outer space out to conquer the Earth.
"Hello Babies," a Hong Kong comedy film, ranked third in terms of ticket sales with gross sales of 15.8 million yuan for the week. The comedy flick is all about couples of different ages and backgrounds and their funny and endearing ways of dealing with reproduction issues. The fourth top earner is "Police Story 2013" an action thriller from Jackie Chan with ticket sales of over 500 million yuan since it opened on Dec. 24.
"Personal Tailor," the newest comedy film of popular Chinese director Feng Xiaogang, ranked fifth on the charts, with gross sales of nearly 700 million yuan since its debut on Dec. 19.
In the week from Jan. 6 to 12, approximately 9.88 million people watched movies nationwide, 2.7 percent higher year on year. Total weekly ticket earnings reached 344 million yuan indicating a 1.6 percent increase.
