〽️ Chinese box office plummeted by nearly half
The past weekend at the Chinese box office brought no change at the top of the charts. According to the consulting firm Artisan Gateway, the family drama Dear You, produced by Jinant Film & TV, firmly maintained its number-one position.
Over the weekend, the feature pulled in 282 million yuan ($41.5 million), pushing its cumulative box office total to $75 million. Directed by Lan Hongchun, the film follows an elderly woman, Ye Shurou, whose peaceful retirement is upended when her debt-ridden grandson travels to Thailand in search of his alleged billionaire grandfather. This investigation sheds light on a secret romance from half a century ago, leading to a shocking discovery: the man the grandmother had been corresponding with for decades was a complete stranger.
The second spot was retained by the suspense detective thriller Vanishing Point. The film added $5.7 million to its tally, bringing its total gross to $60.9 million. Directed by Cheng Wei-hao, the adaptation of the novel Sea Anemone uncovers the eerie secrets of a residential complex that come to light following the mysterious disappearance of a child on the winter solstice.
Holding steady in third place was the Hong Kong crime prequel Cold War 1994, which brought in $2.3 million (bringing its total to $40.4 million). The Edko Films project immerses audiences into the era just years prior to the Hong Kong handover, exposing systemic corruption and the early stages of a power struggle within the police department. The film stars Daniel Wu and Terrance Lau.
Fourth place went to the weekend’s only major newcomer, the comedy-mystery The Sheep Detectives from Amazon MGM Studios. Over its first two days of release in the Middle Kingdom, the talking-sheep feature earned a modest $1.6 million.
Rounding out the top five was the sequel The Devil Wears Prada 2, which collected an additional $600,000 over the weekend, bringing its cumulative Chinese box office to $14.3 million.
Despite the strong performance of the chart-topper, total weekend revenues for the Chinese film market amounted to a modest $55.3 million. Since the beginning of 2026, mainland China’s box office has generated $2.13 billion—a 45.9% decline compared to the same period during the record-breaking year of 2025. Analysts attribute this slump to a scarcity of massive domestic blockbusters and breakout hits in the first half of the year.
Source: Variety
