The Eight Hundred, which has been in cinemas for a month, earned $17.7 million, lifting its total gross to $423.2 million, according to data from local box office tracker Artisan Gateway.
Mulan, meanwhile, earned just $6.5 million in its second weekend, a 72 percent slide from its opening. Despite being set in China, based on a Chinese legend and packed with Chinese stars, Mulan has brought in just $36.3 million in the Middle Kingdom. The film's worldwide theatrical results — $57 million — are even more dismal, considering that the picture cost an estimated $200 million to make, before marketing. Local ticketing app Maoyan forecasts Mulan to conclude its China run with just $41 million.
The Eight Hundred, produced for about $85 million, on Monday also overtook Sony's Bad Boys for Life ($424.6 million) to become the biggest worldwide film of 2020. As of 5 p.m. Beijing time on Monday, The Eight Hundred had reached $426.5 million. Maoyan projects the movie to finish its China run at around $445 million. The film's triumph represents a huge win for Beijing-based studio Huayi Brothers Media and director Guan Hu, who took a risk on releasing the film as China's first tentpole to hit cinemas amid the coronavirus pandemic. The film has been credited with singlehandedly hailing the return of the world's second-biggest box office, where theaters are now operating at a healthy 75 percent of total seating capacity.
Christopher Nolan's Tenet earned a tad less than Mulan for the weekend, taking in $5.6 million for a three-frame China total of $61 million. In North America, where COVID-19 infection rates remain among the highest in the world, the sci-fi thriller has earned just $36.1 million. Like The Eight Hundred, Tenet was the first Hollywood film to brave the big screen amid the pandemic, but the results could scarcely be more different. Made for $200 million before marketing, the Warner Bros. tentpole has sold $250 million worth of tickets worldwide and looks all but certain to lose money.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter by Patrick Brzeski
