Sorry, Hollywood. The queen of dumplings surpasses lightning blows at the Chinese box office
The action film Marvel “Thunderbolts”, which is considered a decisive test of the power of Hollywood in what, once its biggest market abroad, struck China cinemas on Wednesday with mixed results.
According to the Box Office Tracker Beacon, sales of “Thunderbolts” tickets totaled 67 million yuan (9.2 million US dollars) Sunday morning after its release on the eve of the Chinese Labor Day Holidays – a prospective time for cinema.
In the United States, the “Thunderbolts” easily exceeded the weekend box office, collecting $ 31.5 million, but its Thunder did not hit China with the same shock.
He only ranked fourth in the weekly list of the most profitable films on the continent, dragging three Chinese films: “The Dumpling Queen”, which won 160 million Yuan; “A golden match”, with receipts of 94.8 million yuan; And “Ne Zha 2”, with 67.4 million ticket sales.
Trade tensions could not arrive at a worse moment for Hollywood, whose position once ordered in China has been on the decline for several years.
“Ne Zha 2”, which was published in late January, still attracts large crowds. The popular animated film featuring legendary characters has become an industry standard in China, beating national disks at the box office, epilating moviegoers with its creative art and announcing the growing domination of the national film industry.
“Thunderbolts”, distributed by Disney, tells the story of a group of anti-heroes forced to work together in a dangerous mission. And some moviegoers on the continent like an adventure film that rolls whatever its origin.
“It is the best Marvel production from 'Avengers: Endgame',” said an internet user with the Dongchuanluo online name, who claimed a faithful fan of the Marvel franchise and watched Thunderbolts on May 1.
This compared to the note of 9.5 for “The Dumpling Queen”, which tells the real story of a single mother from Qingdao who created one of the greatest food companies in Hong Kong.
“Thunderbolts” was approved for his release in China before Beijing hides imports from American films as part of his response to punitive prices imposed by the Trump administration.
This is the first American film to be screened in China since the trade war broke out, raising the question: will nationalism unleashed by pricing tensions are spreading at the box office?
“Thunderbolts” only ranked fourth in the weekly list of the most profitable films on the Chinese continent.
Trade tensions could not arrive at a worse moment for Hollywood, whose position once ordered in China has been on the decline for several years.
The popularity of American films in China really took off in 1994 with the release of “The Fugitive”, with Harrison Ford. Subsequent blockbusters like “Titanic” and “Avenger: Endgame” once represented half of the annual Chinese box office revenues, according to the Xinhua news agency.
But as China increases to challenge the United States in artificial intelligence, automation, biomedicine and other advanced technologies, its emerging film industry arrives in Major and bends its muscle.
By 2023, Hollywood Films saw their proportion of the box office at around 12% in China.
Last year, among the 10 best most profitable films in China, only the American production of “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire” managed to take a place – in the eighth temporarily. No American film last year has reported more than a billion yuan.
This year, Hollywood blockbusters “The Super Mario Bros.” And “Captain America: Brave New World” was released in China before restrictions on American films.
The last entry of the Captain America franchise underwent a well-office performance below that of its 2016 predecessor “Captain America: Civil War”, which reported 1.2 billion yuan in China.
