The Global Cinema Federation has put out a statement in celebration of the record-breaking opening weekend performance of Detective Chinatown 3, released over the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.
Per data provided by the GCF, Detective Chinatown 3 earned $163 million (RMB 1.05 billion) on its opening day—breaking the single-day, single-market record previously held by Avengers: Endgame, which grossed $157.4 million on its opening day in North America in 2019. Detective Chinatown 3‘s opening weekend gross is $397 million (RMB 2.56 billion). $23.5 million of that weekend gross came from Imax screens.
2020 saw theaters in China shuttered during the Chinese Lunar New Year, one of the biggest moviegoing periods of the year. This year, according to data provided by Gower Street, 93 percent of Chinese screens were open leading into the holiday weekend, setting the stage for Detective Chinatown 3‘s box office success.
“The Global Cinema Federation congratulates the entire team behind Detective Chinatown 3 for delivering a record-breaking opening weekend,” said GCF chairman Alejandro Ramirez Magaña. “The success of Detective Chinatown 3 is proof that moviegoing will come roaring back around the world as we move beyond this difficult time. Cinema unites us in a way that no other art form can, and the need to come together again is palpable.”
“We are very pleased to play a pivotal role in Detective Chinatown 3’s RMB 2.56 billion record-breaking opening weekend,: said Wanda Cinemas’ John Zheng. “Chinese moviegoers are sending a clear message that they missed the experience of gathering together to be entertained, and we know that moviegoers around the world will not be far behind.”
The success of key films in markets that have come out on the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic indicates a pent-up demand for moviegoing that bodes well for North American theaters once vaccine roll-out moves further along. In 2020, Chinese release The Eight Hundred became the first non-Hollywood film to top the yearly global box office. In December, Demon Slayer the Movie: Infinite Train became Japan’s highest-grossing movie ever, breaking a record held by Spirited Away for 19 years. Other successful local titles over the last year include Train to Busan sequel Peninsula and Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification
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