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Despite its emphasis on Asian representation and Southeast Asian themes, Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon” failed to soar in China, coming in third with just $8.4 million, according to Maoyan data. While the sum might look respectable in other pandemic-stricken locales, it falls short in China’s recovered movie market, which has set box office world records already in 2021.

Although it was the only new title of note to premiere this weekend, “Raya” made less in its three-day China opening than Warner Bros.’ hybrid live-action animation “Tom and Jerry” did last weekend, when earnings of $12.4 million allowed it to squeak in a narrow fifth place debut. “Raya’s” China performance was roughly comparable to its sales in North America, where it debuted first this weekend with $8.6 million from 2,045 screens. China has 75,581 screens.

Among the debuts for Disney titles released in the world’s largest film market since the start of the pandemic,...

The Beijing Culture-backed tear-jerking comedy “Hi, Mom” grossed $134 million this weekend to finally surpass Wanda Film’s record-breaking Chinese New Year holiday frontrunner “Detective Chinatown 3” in overall box office, having led the latter in single-day returns since Monday.

It is now only the sixth film to ever have grossed more than RMB400 million ($62 million) in China, a feat achieved by “Detective Chinatown 3,” “Avengers: Endgame” and four other local titles.

The upset shows just how important strong word of mouth is these days in the world’s largest film market. With its 2020 debut delayed due to Covid-19, “Detective Chinatown 3” had a year-long head start over its competitors. While its aggressive promotional campaigns and the strength of its franchise pulled in audiences initially to generate a world record-breaking debut weekend, they have proven no match for the grassroots support that has emerged for the comedy that has organically captured hearts across the country.

The Chinese New Year box office achieved yet another milestone Wednesday, with grosses for the holiday period growing to an estimated Rmb 7.78 billion ($1.2 billion). This beats the previous all-time high set during the comparable 2019 holiday (Rmb 5.9B). China often outdoes itself, but the fact that 2021’s Lunar New Year frame came with Covid capacity restrictions makes the performance even more staggering.

Factors working in the session’s favor included a diverse slate of seven new local titles (including two powerhouses at the top), as well as increased ticket prices in some areas, additional screens versus 2019 and a reduction in travel which made moviegoing the first-choice activity for people who were not journeying to see family as would normally be the case during the holiday.

After setting new records for opening day and opening weekend in a single market (February 12-14), Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 has grossed Rmb 3.56B ($551 million) through Wednesday.

The third ‘Detective Chinatown’ film took $397m in China.

Detective Chinatown 3 stuns with $397m China debut

Wanda Pictures’ Detective Chinatown 3 has delivered the biggest ever opening weekend number in a single territory thanks to its $397m debut in China over the new year holiday weekend. That beats the Avengers: Endgame’s $357m North America launch in April 2019 – previously the biggest opening in a single market.

Detective Chinatown 3 has already overtaken the total box office for the first film in the series ($122m in 2015) and is well on the way to passing Detective Chinatown 2’s total haul...