Actor Paul Rudd attends the European premiere of Marvel's "Ant-Man" at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, England, on July 8, 2015. (Photo : Getty Images)
Marvel’s “Ant-Man” has added another $20 million to its $101 million haul in China, while local crime drama “The Witness” came on strong over the weekend.
The superhero blockbuster is at the top for the second consecutive week, grossing $19.45 million from Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 to push past the $100 million mark for a total of $101.47 million 17 days after its release in Chinese theaters.
The performance makes "Ant-Man" Marvel's fourth highest-grossing title ever in China, The Hollywood Reporter posted on Monday. It is surpassed only by "Avengers: Age of Ultron" ($240.1 million), "Iron Man 3" ($121.2 million), and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" ($115.6 million). "Ant-Man" has thus far earned $513.7 worldwide.
But while Marvel squeaked out another win this week, local crime drama "The Witness" earned the top spot for the weekend, earning $19.07 million over "Ant-Man's" $10.69 million from Friday to Sunday, according to Entgroup.
"The Witness," a remake of the 2011 South Korean thriller "Blind," tells the story of a blind woman who is the sole witness to a kidnapping. The film is helmed by South Korean director Ahn Sang-hoon, who also directed the original, and stars Chinese actress Mini Yang and Lu Han, a former member of Chinese-Korean boy band EXO.
"Ant-Man" is expected to lose its remaining IMAX screens in China later this week, as Universal's mountaineering thriller "Everest" starts to roll out across the country.
Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Animation's "Hotel Transylvania 2" had a respectable $12.24 million opening over its first six days. The $80-million-budgeted 3D animated comedy has now grossed around $373 million globally.
Local comedy "Goodbye Mr. Loser" slipped from second to fourth place for the week, earning $11.1 million for an impressive $223 million haul over 33 days.
In fifth place, Japanese anime "Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno" dropped sharply to $3.39 million from $9.06 million over its first three days in the past week, while European animation "The Little Prince" grossed another $2.75 million for sixth place and a 17-day earnings of $23.95 million.
Chinese romantic comedy "Youth Never Returns" raked in $2.67 million for a total of $7.62 million after 10 days.
In eighth place, Cannes favorite Jia Zhangke's critically acclaimed drama "Mountains May Depart" earned $2.65 million over three days. The film, Jia's first China release in nine years, opened on 12 percent of Chinese movie screens on Friday, the widest release for an independent Chinese movie in recent memory. Despite its modest take, it is considered a huge success for an art film in China, where Hollywood blockbusters, slapstick comedies, and local rom-coms dominate the box office.
At the bottom of the charts, Warner Bros.' "Pan" continued its meager China run, earning just $960,000 for an 11-day total of $4.42 million. Joe Wright's origin story of the classic children's tale has also fared poorly worldwide, with its latest opening in Japan the previous week--its final major international territory--scoring just $1.3 million at the theaters.
In 10th place, Chinese thriller "Midnight Whisper" pulled in $810,000 over the Halloween weekend.
Almost as soon as it is played at Chinese cinemas, "Everest" will face tough competition from fellow Hollywood titles, as China's film watchdogs have packed November with high-profile foreign releases. "Maze Runner: the Scroch Trials" opened on Wednesday, Nov. 4; "Peanuts" on Friday, Nov. 6; and James Bond's "Spectre" will almost certainly make a huge splash once it is released in China on Nov. 13.
