(Variety) “Alien: Covenant,” clumsily cut by the Chinese censors, debuted at the top of the China box office with a lowly $28.6 million opening weekend. It led a chart in which Hollywood movies took the top four places and India’s “Dangal” the fifth, leaving only minor places for Chinese-made films.
“Alien” opened Friday with 95,000 screenings per day, according to local box office tracker Ent Group, for a $10.2 million opening day. It followed that with a $10.4 million Saturday and a $7.09 million Sunday. Fox reported weekend estimates of $29.9 million, including $3 million from 403 IMAX screens.
Online commentators were critical of six minutes of cuts imposed by censors, saying that they disrupted the story. They noted that Michael Fassbender’s gay kiss had also been cut.
Tom Cruise’s “The Mummy” plunged 79% despite playing some 45,000 screenings per day, and took second place with $11.1 million. That extended its cumulative to $81.3 million after 10 days.
“Wonder Woman” followed in third place with $6.21 million, down 56% week on week. After 17 days, it has a cumulative gross of $83.3 million.
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” added $3.46 million in its fourth week. Its total after 24 days now stands on $170 million.
Indian sensation “Dangal” continued to show resilience, proving correct the decision to extend its run beyond the usual four weeks for foreign titles. It scored $3.18 million in its seventh week to lift its cumulative to $185 million.
The top Chinese film of the week was animal documentary “Return to the Wolves.” It opened with $1.69 million in sixth place.
Despite the presence of Mike Tyson and Steven Seagal, China Film Corp.-backed action film “China Salesman” opened weakly. It scored just $1.34 million for seventh place in its opening weekend.
Doggy drama “Love Without Words” took $1.01 million, lifting its 10-day cumulative to $2.74 million. The latest Japanese “Doraemon” cartoon took $890,000 in ninth place and a $21.0 million total after 20 days. Chinese-made thriller “Through The Eye” just made it into the top 10 with a $340,000 opening.
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater