🏮 “Once Upon a Time in the Middle East” Maintains Box Office Lead in China

Directed by Wen Muye (Dying to Survive) and produced by Ning Hao, the film released on August 11 and has quickly become one of the year’s biggest summer hits, bringing its cumulative total to $283.7 million. Starring Shen Teng, Jiang Qiming, Aarif Rahman, and Omar Sharif, the story centers on a debt-ridden Chinese chef stranded in a fictional Middle Eastern town who turns his restaurant into a haven for orphans and civilians after an armed conflict breaks out.

Holding steady in second place for a second consecutive weekend is Pearl River Film Group’s crime drama V. Directed by Han Yan, the film added $14.4 million, bringing its total box office haul in China to $59.6 million. Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Zhu Yilong, Tan Jianci, and Kara Wai star in the story detailing an ambitious protagonist’s meteoric rise and its dark consequences.

Universal’s epic The Odyssey landed in third place, taking in $10 million in its third weekend for a cumulative Chinese box office total of $87.4 million.

Fourth position went to Pearl Studio’s animated fantasy All Wishes Will Come True!. In its seventh week of release, the Mu Zhengyang-directed film added $7.9 million to its tally, bringing its total earnings since its July 18 premiere to $270.3 million.

Rounding out the top five is Sony’s superhero blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which grossed $2.9 million in its fifth weekend. With a cumulative box office of $225.7 million, it stands as Hollywood’s highest-grossing release of 2026 in China.

Overall weekend box office revenue in China reached $69.8 million. Year-to-date total box office earnings for 2026 reached $4.13 billion, reflecting a 28.1% decline compared to the same period in 2025.