🍿 Family drama maintains dominance at the Chinese box office

Directed by Lan Hongchun and starring Li Sitong and Wang Yantong, the film continues to demonstrate remarkable staying power fueled by exceptionally strong word-of-mouth. The film’s cumulative gross has now reached $158.1 million. The plot follows an ordinary woman from the Chaoshan region whose quiet life is disrupted by her debt-ridden grandson. He sets off for Thailand in search of his billionaire grandfather, inadvertently uncovering a secret half-century-old love story—a narrative that has resonated deeply with millions of viewers. According to Comscore, the feature ranked as the third highest-grossing film globally over the weekend.

Against this backdrop, Disney’s new blockbuster The Mandalorian and Grogu, which topped the global box office charts, managed only a second-place debut in China, pulling in a modest $5.3 million.

Third place went to the detective thriller Vanishing Point, which slipped one position to earn $3.2 million, bringing its cumulative box office to $67.4 million. An adaptation of the novel Sea Anemone, the film explores a web of dark secrets within a residential complex following the sudden disappearance of a child on the winter solstice.

The romantic comedy Be Yourself claimed the fourth spot, adding $1.1 million to its haul for a cumulative total of $10.9 million. The story follows a university graduate struggling to cope with a painful breakup from her first love while navigating a series of new suitors.

Rounding out the top five was the week’s newcomer, the rom-com Crossing a Dawn, which generated $700,000 during its two-day opening framework. The film centers on a chance encounter between two young people whose date transforms into an overnight adventure across a sprawling metropolis.

Overall, the combined box office weekend gross in China amounted to $59.2 million. The industry’s year-to-date total for 2026 has reached $2.24 billion, representing a 43.5% decline compared to the same period during the highly successful fiscal year of 2025.