There was further good news from the international box office this weekend, even as it continues to be clear that markets need fresh titles to keep the reopening momentum going — be they local, from Hollywood or even reissues of older event pictures. We remain in uncharted waters around the globe. But progress in the
Dolittle
China’s third Friday back to the movies scored a slight increase on last week’s comparable day at $4.38M. It’s short of the $7.6M generated last Sunday which was boosted by Warner Bros’ reissue of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, but still a jump on last Friday, while midweeks were solid. Play today was led by DreamWorks/Amblin/Universal’s 1917
SATURDAY UPDATE: Since cinemas reopened in China’s low-risk areas on July 20, the market today had its biggest day yet. Box office was $5.74M (RMB 40M) overall for the day, according to Maoyan figures. That reps a 38% jump from Friday. After leading last weekend and the midweeks, then dropping to No. 2 on Friday,
China’s second Friday with cinemas back to business in low-risk areas rang up another $4M at local turnstiles, a 39% increase versus the same day last week. About 60% of movie theaters are now operating, with capacity limits and social distancing still in place, so all numbers are to be taken with a grain of
On their first Friday back to operations, Chinese cinemas did roughly $2.92M worth of box office business — more than tripling Thursday’s figures and making a sizable jump from Monday when theaters opened to about $501K in low-risk areas across the country. There was growth throughout the midweeks which is encouraging since less than 40%
As expected, Chinese authorities have given the go-ahead for cinemas in Beijing to reopen this coming Friday. That’s also when the first new Hollywood titles will hit the market, including Dolittle and Bloodshot. Only cinemas in the capital’s low-risk areas will be able to resume operations — and with strict sanitary measures in place, state
EXCLUSIVE: Wasting no time as cinemas prepare to reopen beginning next week in most of China, a first batch of titles due for release has been identified. Universal’s Dolittle has been granted a July 24 date while we understand that Sony’s Bloodshot, handled locally by Bona Film, will also go out that same day. This