The Chinese-made crime thriller “The Tipping Point” jumped to the top of the box office in mainland China over the weekend, taking in $8.8 million for three days.
Directed by David Lam (Z Storm) from Hong Kong, the film is based on true events and sees a newly hired detective called to investigate the death of a schoolgirl who fell from a building. The policeman discovers a corruption ring involving the city’s main businessman. The film stars Zhou Yiwei, Qin Hailu, Julian Cheung, and Eric Tsang.
New releases in Chinese theaters have been a rarity for several weeks as distributors remained wary about a weak off-peak holiday market and nearly all foreign films were excluded.
“The Tipping Point” captured 69% of the total box office market over the weekend, according to data from consultancy and research firm Artisan Gateway. The new issue, “Love Serendipity”, fell last week to 580,000 dollars (4.2 million yuan) and ranked fourth after recording 2.3 million dollars (16.6 million yuan) in its opening session. It now has a cumulative gross of $3.9 million (CNY 27.9 million) ten days after release.
“Home Coming”, which previously topped the Chinese chart for six weeks, held the number two spot with an increase of $2.4 million (17.4 million CNY). This gives it a total of $215 million (1.55 billion yuan) since its launch at the end of September.
“Give Me Five,” released at the beginning of September, took third place in the last weekend. It took $1.1 million (8.3 million CNY) for a cumulative total of $74.3 million (535 million CNY).
The animated movie “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” (also known as “Blazing Samurai”) was released on Saturday and brought in $250,000 (1.8 million CNY). The film was co-directed by Rob Minkoff, who has strong ties to China and previously directed co-produced Jet Li starring “The Forbidden Kingdom.”
Artisan Gateway now calculates that the total box office for the year to date in China is $3.90 billion. This is about 35% of 2021 levels at the same point in 2021.
