Impossible 7′ Opens Soft in third place – The Hollywood Reporter

Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Skydance

Tom Cruise failed to do the seemingly impossible in China over the weekend: revive Hollywood’s former box office muscle in the world’s second largest theatrical market.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1 It badly missed its opening weekend in China, where it debuted at number three behind A Pair of Hanging Chinese Songs.

Paramount and Skydance’s sequel opened to just $25.9 million from Friday to Sunday, a sharp dip from Mission: Impossible Fallout$76 million opening in 2018. Chinese martial arts drama never say nevermeanwhile, earned $46.1 million, followed by domestic animated successes Chang An With 43.9 million dollars.

never say neverWritten and directed by favorite domestic comedian Wang Baoqiang (Lost in ThailandAnd Chinatown Detective), has grossed $211.5 million since its July 6 opening. Chang Anthe latest release from Beijing’s leading animation studio Light Chaser, which launched on July 8 and has a current total value of $96.1 million.

Ticketing forecast app Maoyan Mission: Impossible 7 To end its run in China with just $60 million, down from M: I’m 6$181 million in 2018 and M: I’m 5$136.7 million in 2015.

Domestic ratings for Cruise’s latest role as Ethan Hunt have been remarkably strong. The film scored 9.4 on Maoyan, 9.5 on Alibaba’s Taopiaopiao and 7.9 on Douban – very healthy numbers. But Chinese moviegoers aren’t turning out for American films the way they once did.

China’s theatrical box office results for the first half of 2023 became available earlier this month – and the numbers are pretty bleak for Hollywood.

After abruptly lifting its strict COVID-19 lockdowns late last year, China has resumed importing American films at pre-pandemic levels in 2023, one of Beijing’s many moves aimed at sending a signal to the world that it’s back open for business. In the first half of 2023, 24 US films were released in Chinese cinemas, just two fewer than in the same period in 2019, according to Artisan Gateway.

In general, the Chinese theater market has witnessed a strong recovery recently. Movie ticket revenue totaled $3.8 billion (26.3 billion CNY) in the first six months of the year, down just 16 percent from 2019 (and a 54 percent improvement over last year, when Chinese cinemas were still hampered by mass lockdowns). ).

Domestic Chinese films, meanwhile – are again popping up this weekend never say never And Chang AnPowerful Feedback – Doing more business than ever before. In the first half of 2023, thanks to a booming Chinese New Year launch season, total sales for Chinese titles jumped to $2.8 billion, up 27 percent from the same period in the year before the pandemic.

Analysts note that the remaining shortfall in earnings is due almost entirely to lower earnings for American films in China. Although Hollywood’s tentpoles resumed pouring into China at a healthy rate, total ticket sales for US films recorded just $592 million in the first six months of the year, a sharp drop from the $1.9 billion earned during the same period in 2019.

Hopes are relatively high for Greta Gerwig and Warner Bros.’s profitability. Barbie, which opens in China on Friday. But the American film will face very tough domestic competition. The first installment from Chinese director Wuershan’s Fengshen trilogyIt’s called China’s Answer Lord of the ringsOpening Thursday, it boasts a star-studded cast and the largest production budget of any film in the history of Chinese filmmaking.