China Box Office: ‘Mission: Impossible’ Takes $37 Million on Slow Weekend

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Hollywood films took the top three places at the China , with Alibaba-backed “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” again on top. But it was a slow weekend.

After a highly impressive $77 million opening a week earlier, the Tom Cruise-starring “Fallout” fell 59% in its second weekend to score $31.5 million. But it had little competition.

“Fallout” played at 7,149 venues delivering some 100,000 screenings per day. Its total included $2.6 million from most of the country’s IMAX screens. After 10 days its cumulative is $137 million. In the Paramount Pictures title is released by China Film Group and Huaxia Distribution.

The second placed film, and the week’s highest newcomer, was wilderness tale “Alpha.” It earned $10.1 million from over 60,000 screenings per day.

Both of the top two titles have Chinese industry connections. “Fallout” is backed by and marketed in China by Alibaba Pictures. ‘” is a product of the Fosun International-backed Studio 8.

Third place belonged to “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Playing in its third week, it earned $4.53 million, for a 17-day cumulative of $117 million.

Soccer drama, “Pele: Birth of a Legend” took fourth spot with $2.50 million. (Another sports drama, “Lee Chong Wei: Rise of the Legend” earned $620,000, enough for tenth place. Lee is a Malaysian badminton star, whose biggest rivalry was with a Chinese player.)

Fifth was “Go Brother,” which earned $1.71 million for a cumulative of $53 million after 24 days. Chinese crime drama, “The Blizzard” released on Thursday and earned 1.46 million in four days for sixth place.

On a weekend with a top-10 cumulative gross of just $54.6 million, the third lowest of the year, no other film earned more than $1 million.