(Photo: CGTN)
After two weeks of absolute dominance, Marvel Studio's “Avengers: Endgame” finally stepped down from the throne of being the number one film in China after breaking multiple box office records including becoming the highest grossing foreign film of all time. It handed the crown over to “Detective Pikachu,” the fluffy electric mouse.
As of Sunday, two days after its debut in China, the cute yellow critter has already garnered nearly 275 million yuan (40 million US dollars). And it is expected to exceed 300 million (43.6 million US dollars) yuan soon.
“Detective Pikachu” is adapted from a 2016 video game of the Japanese Pokémon video game series by Nintendo. Directed by Rob Letterman and starring Ryan Reynolds as the voice, it is the first live-action film of the franchise.
The storyline of the film is mission-driven just like many other video game adaptations, which are often criticized for their lack of depth. But it seems that this time the adaptation works well.
Part of the success could be down to the large fan base of the Pokémon series, of course. After being created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1995, it has gradually sprawled into a huge franchise, with video games, animation series, cards, manga books…and even toys.
According to MovieWeb, Pokémon is the world's highest grossing media franchise of all time with 90 billion US dollars revenue, and the second best-selling video game franchise, after the Mario series.
Seeing the familiar Pocket Monsters come into life, or simulating the Pokémon Go game while watching the film is indeed an enjoyable process for the fans of the series. But even you are not a Pokéfan, it does not matter at all. Who could say no to such an adorable yellow critter, with a pair of watery eyes and rosy cheeks?
The film is so far scored 6.8 out of 10 on Douban.com, the Chinese rating platform.
It finally broke through four billion yuan (580 million US dollars) with its Chinese box office grossing on Friday, and two days later reached 4.1 billion yuan (600 million US dollars). It is the third highest grossing film in Chinese cinematic history, as well as the highest grossing foreign film ever in China.
With the “Avengers” cooling, China's weekly box office sees a big drop from the previous week's 2.02 billion yuan (290 million US dollars) to 665 million yuan (96.7 million US dollars) as well, with a 44-percent year-on-year decrease.
Lebanon film “Capernaum” is on the third place, with its general box office now exceeding 280 million yuan (40.7 million US dollars). Indian film “Mom” is on the fourth place with 38.9 million yuan (5.66 million US dollars).
The 2017 Indian crime thriller is about an Indian mom avenging her daughter who was sexually assaulted after a party. Though based on realistic issues, the film is also criticized for lack of logic while pursuing the dramatic conflicts.
For the new week, “A Dog's Purpose 2”, set to debut on Friday, is among the mostly expected films.
Chinese domestic arthouse film “Girls Always Happy” is also expected to hit the big screens. Directed by Yang Mingming, China's newly rising female director, the film explores the relationship between mother and daughter in their daily life.
Domestic thriller “Twins”, starring Liu Haoran and Chen Duling, media darlings and the rising new stars, will join the arena on Saturday. While attempting to explore the dark side of the adolescent themes, it remains a question mark whether it will be a surprise or another flop.