‘Kraven the Hunter’ Makes Modest Debut as ‘Her Story’ Maintains Lead at Sluggish China Box Office
Maxtime Pictures’ “Her Story,” a comedy-drama film told from a largely female perspective, topped the mainland China box office for the fourth consecutive weekend.
The box office remained sluggish despite a few new releases, with Hollywood holdover “Moana 2” dropping out of the top five and Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” making a modest debut.
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Data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway showed “Her Story” sliding from its previous weekend’s showing by earning RMB52.1 million ($7.3 million) between Friday and Sunday. The film now has a cumulative total of $89 million in the Middle Kingdom. The film was the seventh highest grossing film internationally, according to numbers from Comscore.
“Her Story” is directed by Shao Yihui (2021’s “B For Busy”). Its fast-paced story focuses on two women – one a recently unemployed single mom, the other a new neighbor who is more troubled than she appears – who become friends. Together they face up to various relationship challenges, including an abusive ex-husband and new romantic possibilities.
Emperor Motion Pictures’ “The Last Dance,” bowed in second place with $5.9 million and with previews has a cumulative total of $9.7 million. Directed by up-and-coming Hong Kong filmmaker Anselm Chan, the film follows a cash-strapped former wedding planner and a stern old Taoist priest who become unlikely partners in the funeral business. It boasts an all-star cast headed by Cantonese comedy icons Dayo Wong (“Table for Six”) and Michael Hui (“Security Unlimited,” “Where the Wind Blows”).
In third place, superstar Donnie Yen’s Hong Kong action-drama “The Prosecutor” from Maoyan Pictures has already racked up $7.8 million in previews ahead of its Dec. 27 release. In “The Prosecutor,” action icon Yen steps into the role of Fok Chi Ho, a former elite police special forces officer who trades his badge for a courtroom. Yen’s Fok becomes a prosecutor tasked with handling the case of Ma Ka Kit (rising star Mason Fung), a struggling young man entangled in a drug trafficking charge. Despite questionable circumstances, Ma is pressured into a plea deal that results in a harsh sentence. Driven by his instincts, Fok begins to dig deeper into the case, uncovering a labyrinthine conspiracy that threads through Hong Kong’s criminal underworld and its upper echelons of power.
In fourth position, “I Am What I Am 2,” the sequel to the 2021 animated hit, debuted with $3.7 million over the weekend and a cumulative total of $4.6 million including previews. Also directed by Sun Haipeng, the film follows A Juan, a young man who leaves his rural hometown for the city, driven by the need to secure funds for his father’s medical treatment. His search for income leads him to pursue rigorous training and enter the Shanghai Fight Night kickboxing competition.
Rounding off the top five was Dimension Films’ “Burning Stars” with $2.7 million and a cumulative total of $13 million after two weekends in release. Directed by Xu Zhanxiong (“Sea of Stars,” Golden Rooster award winner “The Pioneer,” Golden Crane award winner “Wild Grass”), the historical fiction action-drama follows a group of young students who embark on a top-secret mission, using themselves as bait to achieve an evacuation operation. The cast includes Roy Wang (“Ray of Light”), Sophie Zhang (“She’s Got No Name”), Connor Leong (“Song of Life”) and Li Chen (“Bureau 749”).
Disney’s “Moana 2” dropped out of the top five, earning $2.4 million in sixth place for a cume of $13.6 million, per numbers from Ent Group. Sony’s “Kraven the Hunter” bowed in eighth position with $1.2 million, according to Ent Group.
The nationwide weekend box office was $33.9 million and the year-to-date running total is $5.79 billion. That is still 21.2% below the same point in 2023.
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