The ‘Moon Man’ holds off ‘Warriors of Future’ on yet another strong weekend at the Chinese box office

Despite its lower orbit, the Chinese sci-fi comedy ” Moon Man ” held a prominent position at the mainland China box office. As of the end of its ten-day run, it is just a fraction of a degree shy of $300 million, and it performed better than the new sci-fi actioner ” Warriors of Future.”

Although some cinemas were closed in key cities and capacity limitations still existed in others, the numbers were strong. As a result of a cluster of COVID cases, Hainan Island was placed under lockdown over the weekend.

Artsy Gateway estimates that the $91.8 million weekend box office haul brings the year-to-date total to $3.3 billion. There was a 30% reduction in its deficit compared to 2021.

The weekend top five for the latest weekend lacked any Hollywood titles, with Chinese films dominating. In traditional Chinese culture, this time of year is known as ‘Chinese film support month,’ when major foreign films are not allowed to release in China.

There is no information on the exact date of the blackout, but due to a new low in U.S.-China diplomatic relations following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Hollywood may experience the drought for a longer period of time.

During the weekend of Friday and Sunday, “Moon Man” earned $60.5 million (RMB 405 million), according to Artisan Gateway. An increase of 54% week-over-week was recorded.

It earned $1.8 million on Thursday, known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, from Imax screens, which contributed some $4 million to the film’s weekend total. In the year since its release on July 29, 2022, “Moon Man” has earned RMB2.01 billion or $299 million. As a result, the Imax total for the film now stands at around $12 million.

The movie “Moon Man” tells the tale of “the last human in the universe” who finds himself stranded on the moon after an asteroid wipes out all life on earth. The film is directed by Zhang Chiyu, who previously directed the 2017 hit comedy “Never Say Die.” It was produced by Mahua FunAge, which is consistently successful when it comes to comedy productions.

With a Friday to Sunday score of $20.8 million (RMB139 million), “Warriors of Future” ranked second. The film has grossed $30 million (RMB202 million) in total, including advanced screenings. Hong Kong star Louis Koo is credited with producing and starring in the film, a much-delayed project.

In 2017, it finally began production after three years of development, but COVID-related delays both in mainland China and Hong Kong delayed its release for another three years. It will premiere at the Hong Kong International Film Festival next week and enter local release on Aug. 25, 2022.

In “Warriors”, Ng Yuen-fai depicts the impact of an alien-carrying asteroid on Earth. The effect of it is to wipe out most of humanity as well as cleanse the planet. In the process of battling the alien plant’s genome, Hong Kong’s remaining defense forces uncover a conspiracy.

The iQiyi Pictures-backed romantic film “Almost Love” opened on Thursday (Aug. 4). During the weekend, it earned $2.5 million (RMB16.7 million) while over the first four days, it earned $10.1 million (RMB67.7 million).

On Saturday (Aug. 6), the local animation film “GG Bond: Ocean Mission” opened with a $2 million (RMB13.4 million) opening weekend.

“Lighting up the Stars,” a previous box office winner that continues to be popular, came in fifth place with $1.8 million (RMB12.4 million). Currently, it has a cumulative revenue of $250 million (RMB1.67 billion) since its release on June 24.

Robert Poirrer

Robert Poirrer is a contributing author who covers Hollywood latest movie releases and web series for the MovieThop website. He has a decade of experience in writing movies based articles for numerous renowned media outlets. He is excellent at creating unique content based on emerging trends in a variety of categories especially entertainment, movies and lifestyle. When not writing articles you could find Robert enjoying mountain biking trips with his friends. He graduated in English Literature from North Carolina State University.