Alien: Romulus’ Outshines North American Earnings at Chinese Box Office, Thai Film Gains Momentum

Alien: Romulus secured its third consecutive weekend at the top of the box office in mainland China, outperforming its North American earnings. The film, which earned RMB 63.4 million ($8.9 million) between Friday and Sunday, has now accumulated RMB 661 million ($93.1 million) in China. This total surpasses the $88.8 million the movie has earned in North America by the same date.

This impressive achievement makes Alien: Romulus the second-highest-grossing Hollywood film in China this year, trailing only Godzilla x Kong. The success of the film has caught many by surprise, particularly since it was released in August, a month traditionally associated with a blackout period for foreign films in favor of promoting Chinese-made movies. However, these restrictions appear to have been relaxed as Chinese cinemas seek to attract audiences with standout content.

Meanwhile, the Chinese crime action film Go for Broke moved up to second place at the box office, with a weekend haul of $6.2 million, bringing its 17-day total to $44.9 million. The film saw only a 13% drop in earnings compared to the previous week.

Another Chinese film, Successor, which has been the summer's biggest hit, climbed back into the top five, earning $3.7 million over the weekend and reaching a total of $459 million. In contrast, the crime drama Untouchable saw a significant drop in its second weekend, earning only $3.7 million compared to the previous week's $10.3 million.

The Thai comedy-drama How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies also made a strong showing, climbing into the top five during its second week of release in China. The film earned $3.3 million over the weekend, down slightly from its estimated opening of $4.4 million, bringing its total earnings in China to $10.7 million since its release on August 23.

Artisan Gateway reported that the nationwide box office for the weekend was worth an aggregate $40.8 million, the lowest figure in ten weeks. This brings the running total for the year to $4.70 billion, a decline of more than 22% compared to the same time last year.

Maoyan, a leading film ticketing agency in China, noted that the summer box office season (June to August) saw a 44% decrease from the previous year, totaling RMB 11.64 billion. This decline was attributed mainly to a reduction in the number of blockbuster films released. However, the total number of films released and those grossing over RMB 100 million during the summer reached a nearly six-year high, with a diverse range of new domestic films being released.

Maoyan highlighted that despite the overall decline, imported films performed well, with nine films grossing over RMB 100 million this summer, surpassing the numbers from 2023. Notably, Alien: Romulus performed better in China than in North America, further emphasizing the shifting dynamics in the global film industry.