(THR) Warner Bros.’ DC superhero tentpole Aquaman made major waves on its opening day in China, the first important market where the film is released.
With a 86 percent share of the total market Friday, early data provided by the studio showed a RMB 169.5 million ($24.6 million) haul from approximately 30,500 screens, making it the biggest opening-day ever for a Warner title in China and the biggest-ever December opening day overall.
The film is also earning rave local reviews, scoring 8.4/10 from reviews aggregator Douban and 9.5/10 from leading ticketing app Maoyan, some of the highest scores of the year for a Hollywood film.
The buzz and big start both augur for a huge opening-weekend haul for the high-stakes superhero movie.
Warner Bros. decided to unfurl Aquaman first in China, followed by additional foreign markets next week, to get a jump on a crowded pack of year-end holiday films, including Mary Poppins Returns and the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee. Aquaman is set to debut in North America on Dec. 21, the beginning of the lucrative year-end holiday corridor.
Directed by James Wan and starring Jason Momoa in the titular role, Aquaman looks set to exceed earlier local estimates of a $60 million debut weekend at the Chinese box office, which would be the biggest start to date for a DC title in the territory.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by