(Variety) Enjoying a day-and-date launch in the Middle Kingdom, “Thor: Ragnarok” powered to a $15 million opening in China, the world’s second largest theatrical market.
The Disney/Marvel superhero pic is handled in China through state-owned distributor China Film Group, which screened it at 110,000 locations on its first day.
Local tracking services Ent Group reported its gross as $15 million, with an additional $1.1 million from Thursday night/Friday morning midnight screenings. That gave the film a $16.1 million cumulative total at the end of its first full day.
Related service China Box Office reported the film’s Friday score as RMB230 million, representing a 73% market share.
“Thor’s” wide opening knocked last week’s top film, “Geostorm,” to third place. It held a 5.2% market share on Friday.
The tentpole is likely to earn $55 million to $60 million for the full weekend. The opening weekend record in China is held by “The Fate of the Furious,” which drove off with $185 million and went on to haul $393 million earlier this year.
China’s box office is currently showing a 15% uptick compared with 2016. By the end of October, this year’s 10-month total was within 1% of the 12-month total last year.
Source: Variety by Patrick Frater