(THR) Clint Eastwood's 'Sully' also opened to a disappointing $5.5 million, while local romance 'Suddenly Seventeen', directed by the daughter of Zhang Yimou, earned $10.7 million.
In a hard-fought battle at the Chinese box office, Japanese anime sensation Your Name vanquished Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge over the weekend.
Director Makoto Shinkai's runaway hit earned $15.3 million in its second frame, narrowly edging out Hacksaw's $14.4 million Friday-to-Sunday total, according to data from Beijing-based box office tracker Ent Group.
After 10 days, Your Name has pulled in $71.2 million in the Middle Kingdom. A dreamy, CG anime about missed connections, Your Name tells the story of star-crossed teenage lovers who swap bodies during a natural disaster. The film just concluded a one-week Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles, where it also was named the year's best animated film by the L.A. Film Critics Association. Whether it heralds the return of Japanese animation to the global fore will be determined in early 2017, when the film gets released in North America.
Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge opened Thursday in second place, taking $2.57 million. But over its first four days, the visceral World War II drama totaled a healthy $16.9 million. On Sunday, it crept to first place, earning $5.2 million over Your Name's $4.8 million — word of mouth on Chinese social media has been particularly strong.
Local new release Suddenly Seventeen opened a step behind with a solid $10.7 million for the weekend. Produced by Le Vision Pictures and Wanda Media, the film is the directorial debut of Zhang Mo, the daughter of celebrated Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Hero). A fantasy romantic-comedy, the film stars Ni Ni as a young woman in pre-marital crisis who eats a magic chocolate that transports her back into her 17-year-old self. Wallace Huo co-stars as her distracted love interest.
Clint Eastwood's Sully achieved a shaky liftoff to the tune of $5.5 million in its China debut. The film stars Tom Hanks as the real-life pilot who crash-landed a US Airways jet on the Hudson River. By Sunday, it had slipped to sixth place for the day with $1.6 million — a troubling sign for the title's local staying power.
Harry Potter prequel Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them pulled in $5.2 million for fifth place in its third weekend. After 17 days in China, the movie has earned $82.5 million.
Disney's Moana, meanwhile, added $3.5 million for a $26 million total after three weekends. And
Feng Xiaogang's arty drama, I Am Not Madame Bovary, took home $2.7 million, lifting its 24-day cumulative gross to $60.9 million.
Down in seventh place, Tim Burton's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children earned just $2.2 million in its second weekend for a 10-day total of $15.9 million.
Rounding out the bottom of the charts were Bona Film Group's martial arts action flick, The Swordmaster, with $1.6 million for a $13 million cume; and local animation The Winner, with $1.57 million for the weekend.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by
