China Box Office: ‘Shepherd’ and ‘Skyfire’ Lead Local Film Dominance

Chinese-made films “Sheep Without A Shepherd,” “Skyfire” and “Gone With the Light” dominated weekend takings at the mainland Chinese box office. Hollywood’s holdovers were consigned to the lesser rankings.

“Shepherd” is a remake of 2013 Indian thriller “Drishyam” and tells the story of a man trying to cover up for his daughter’s killing of a police officer’s son. It stars Xiao Yang, Tan Zhuo and Joan Chen, and was directed by Malaysia’s Sam Quah.

Directed by the U.K.’s Simon West, “Skyfire” is an action film about holidaymakers caught up in a volcanic eruption while on a tropical island.

“Skyfire,” which premiered at the recent film festival in Hainan (which markets itself as China’s tropical island), opened commercially on Thursday. It topped the rankings with an opening day take of $4.25 million.

“Shepherd” took the more conventional route with a Friday opening, and held the top spot from Friday to Sunday, with a three-day total of $32.0 million, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. After four days on release, “Skyfire” had earned $20.1 million.

“Gone With the Light,” a Chinese romance with sci-fi elements, took third place with $8.40 million. Directed by Dong Runnian, it stars popular comedian Huang Bo, Wang Luodan, Tan Zhuo (again) and Huang Lu.

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Hollywood sequel “Jumanji: The Next Level” earned $5.80 million over the weekend, to lift its 10-day cumulative to $38.4 million. The longer running “Frozen 2” did most of its business on Saturday and Sunday and scored $5.4 million. After 24 days in Chinese theaters it has accumulated $112 million.

In some quarters, “Skyfire” has been pitched as China’s first disaster movie, though that is scarcely a description approved of by Chinese authorities, who prefer the popular new genre to be called “rescue films.” Nor is the description especially accurate: the recently-released “The Captain” depicts the no-lives-lost heroism of a Chinese airline pilot after a passenger plane’s windshield is blown out at altitude, while in summer fact-based “The Bravest” portrayed heroics after the oil spill at the Xingang oil facility near the North Korean border. More rescue film in the same patriotic tone can be expected next month at Chinese New Year, including one bluntly called “The Rescue.”

In the near term, the box office chart is set for a further change later this week with the release of several titles competing in the lucrative end of year slot. Feng Xiaogang’s “Only Cloud Knows,” “Ip Man 4: The Finale,” “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and propaganda film “The First People’s City Founded by the Chinese Communist Party” all release on Dec. 20.

Expressed in dollars, aggregate box office so far this year is running 4.9% ahead of 2018, with Artisan Gateway reporting an $8.74 billion total to date. The China Movie Data Information Network, reported that in local currency terms Chinese box office passed the RMB60 billion ($8.57 billion at current exchange rates) mark on Dec. 6, 24 days earlier than last year

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