‘The Batman’ Flies to Slow Start at China Box Office as COVID Returns

variety.com:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“The Batman” flew to a worryingly slow start on Friday at the mainland China box office, where Hollywood films have struggled of late and where the latest coronavirus surge is threatening films of all origins.By 3.30pm on its first full day, the Warner Bros.

noir had earned a lowly RMB12.1 million, or $1.90 million at prevailing currency rates, according to provisional data from ticketing agency Maoyan.

Including previews from Thursday, “The Batman” had a total by early afternoon of RMB13.7 million, or $2.15 million.On the plus side, “The Batman” ranked on top of the mainland China box office chart with a 70% market share, more than five times greater than second placed “The Battle at Lake Changjin II.” “Uncharted,” which opened on Monday in China, and had deposed the “Lake Changjin” juggernaut, placed third on early Friday afternoon.

After a little more than four days in Chinese cinemas it had accumulated RMB41.6 million ($6.52 million).Previous Batman films have scored reasonably strongly in China: “The Dark Knight Rises” earned $53 million in 2012; “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice” scored $97 million in 2016; and “Justice League,” when China was the first country to premiere the film, earned $106 million in 2017.Maoyan has forecast that “The Batman” will achieve a RMB215 million ($34 million) lifetime total in China.