(Global Times) With total box office takings of 553 million yuan ($87.8 million) as of Sunday noon, Aamir Khan's Secret Superstar is the most successful imported movie on the Chinese mainland of 2018 so far.
Secret Superstar premiered January 19 and continued to perform well over the weekend despite competition from new Chinese and Hollywood movies including Till the End of The World and The Greatest Showman opening Friday.
Secret Superstar topped the weekend box office with an estimated 62.82 million yuan for Friday, Saturday and up to Sunday 4:30pm.
Telling the story of a teenage Indian girl who fights for her musical dream in a male-dominated family while encouraging her mother to be independent, the film struck a chord in China.
It is already the second-highest earning Indian film in China following Khan's other hit movie Dangal, which amassed 1.29 billion yuan.
Following closely was Chinese romantic adventure Till the End of The World, which earned about 58.27 million yuan on its first weekend in the same period. Starring pop icons Mark Chao and Yang Zishan, the film was adapted from the novel whose author Wu Youyin is also the film's director and scriptwriter.
Chinese children's animation Bonnie Bears: The Big Shrink, still in its advance showings, finished third with around 29.91 million yuan for Friday-Sunday 4:30 pm.
Hugh Jackman as The Greatest Showman ranked fourth with 29.66 million yuan. Jackman, well-known for his Wolverine roles in the X-Men and Wolverine franchises, is finding his more down-to-earth roles not nearly as popular in China.
The last of the trilogy Maze Runner: The Death Cure finished a surprisingly low fifth with about 27.03 million yuan.
Source: Global Times