China Box Office: ‘Transformers One’ Takes Top Spot on Quietest Weekend of the Year
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Transformers One” took top spot at the China box office over its debut weekend. It was the only major title to release on an atypical Friday that precedes next week’s National Day holiday season.
That also made the latest Friday-to-Sunday session the lowest-grossing weekend of the year for mainland Chinese cinemas. Released only a week after its North American debut, “Transformers One,” an animated spin-off from the “Transformers” franchise which has been enormously popular in the Middle Kingdom, earned $4.9 million, according to data from consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.
Including its previews, the film finished Sunday with a running total of $8.0 million in China. In second place, “Like a Rolling Stone,” a drama film about a 50-year-old woman who decides to take charge of her own life and embarks on a driving tour, earned RMB15.2 million ($2.3 million).
That lifts it to an 15-day cumulative of $15.6 million. “Stand by Me,” the story of two orphaned or abandoned children who meet up and help each other as teenagers, slipped from first place to third.
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