China Box Office: ‘Lost in Hong Kong’ Leads Huge Week for Local Films

In the face of stiff competition from a wave of high-quality local competition, Lost in Hong Kong retained a commanding lead at the top of China’s box office during the country’s National Day holiday period, one of the busiest movie-going periods of the year.

Xu Zheng‘s hit road movie grossed another $102 million for the week, slipping just 5 percent from its massive $107 million debut. The film’s $209 million cume after 10 days makes it the fifth-highest-grossing film of the year in China. It has also surpassed its franchise predecessor, Lost in Thailand, which pulled in a historic $208 million in 2012 and held the title for highest-grossing Chinese film ever for more than two years.

Hollywood films took less than 5 percent of the week’s huge total, as Chinese movies dominated the top of the charts.

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Lu Chuan‘s effects-heavy fantasy sci-fi spectacle Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe claimed second place with an impressive $66 million for a five-day cume of $69 million.

Goodbye Mr. Loser, another comedy, took third with $40 million for the week, bumping its cume to $42 million, including preview screenings.

If there was a loser in the Chinese holiday smackdown, it was Andy Lau‘s crime thriller Saving Mr. Wu. But the film still took $15 million in its opening week — a performance that would have been considered huge as recently as five years ago, when China’s total yearly box office was about 25 percent of what it is today.

Minions was Hollywood’s top title for the week running Sept 28 to Oct. 4. The film grossed $6.19 million, bringing its China haul after 22 days to $65.58 million.

Mission Impossible — Rouge Nation added 3.33 million to its strong $135.29 China total after 27 days.

The next major Hollywood release to hit the booming China market will be Marvel’s Ant-Man on October 16. Pixar’s Inside Out also opens in China on October 6. 

Rounding out the bottom of the charts with slight earnings: Balala The Fairies: Princess Camellia took $3.09 million in four days; romantic drama The Third Way of Love grossed $3.08 million for a 10-day cume of $7.52 million; local animation The Tale From the Orient had $500,000 in four days for ninth place; and horror flick The Mirror continued to fail to connect, pulling in just $450,000 for a 10-day total of $890,000.