Yahoo Finance China Box Office: ‘Peter Rabbit 2’ Scampers to Second Behind Sports Drama ‘Never Stop’
Columbia Pictures’ “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” hopped up to second in China this weekend, but was unable to scurry past local sports drama “Never Stop” despite an extra day’s lead.
“Peter Rabbit 2” grossed a relatively unremarkable $969,000 (RMB6.2 million) on opening day Friday but managed to pull in $7.8 million from 10,500 screens over the three-day holiday weekend, according to data from ticketing agency Maoyan. Monday marks the national Chinese holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival, and will likely bringing further sales for the family-friendly film. Based on early estimates, Sony projects that it will gross $11.1 million by the end of the extended four-day weekend — putting it 15% ahead of recent comp “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
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Its total performance may not, however, be enough for the sequel to best the first film’s $26.3 million China cumulative back in 2018. Maoyan currently predicts “Peter Rabbit 2” will gross a total of $18.9 million in the territory.
Directed by Will Gluck and co-written by Gluck and Patrick Burleigh, the film stars Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleeson, David Oyelowo and Elizabeth Debicki, with James Cordon as Peter Rabbit.
In top place this weekend was “Never Stop,” a Chinese drama about track running from first-time director Han Bowen, starring Zheng Kai, who plays a retired and fading track star. The film debuted Saturday and had grossed $10.1 million the end of the day Sunday.
Gritty Chinese thriller “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” also premiered Saturday, nabbing third with $6.82 million. Produced by Ning Hao, the debut feature of director Shi Wenpei stars top leading man Eddie Peng (“The Rescue”), Sylvia Chang, Wang Yanhui (“Dying to Survive,” “A Cool Fish”) and Zhang Yu (“An Elephant Sitting Still,” “A Cool Fish”).
In fourth was the Japanese animated sci-fi romance “Hello World,” which debuted Friday to a $6.24 million weekend. It was directed by Itō Tomohiko and produced by Graphinica. The title screened in only two territories in the fall of 2019 — Hong Kong, where it grossed less than $50,000, and Japan, where it earned $4.4 million.
Chinese comedic drama “Sunny Sisters” premiered at fifth with a $5.63 million gross. It was directed by Bao Beier, best known as a comedic actor (“Lost in Hong Kong,” “Hello Mr. Billionaire”), and tells the story of a group of six girlfriends and their friendship as it changes course from youth to adulthood.
Holdover Hollywood titles didn’t manage to make much of a splash over the Dragon Boat weekend.
“Cruella” came in sixth with a $4.5 million weekend, bringing its China cume since its debut last week up to $10.9 million.
“F9” continues to rev up viewers, hitting eighth with a further $3.75 million in sales, bringing its cume up to $213 million. “A Quiet Place” lurked behind it in ninth, having grossed a further $2.05 million to bump its cume up to $34.5 million.
Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1988 classic “Cinema Paradiso” hit Chinese theaters Friday as well, earning $1.37 million over the weekend.
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