The Universal dinosaur sequel is the first Hollywood film to gross more than $100 million in China in more than a year.
On Thursday, Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion surpassed $100 million in China, becoming the first Hollywood picture to reach the mark since Legendary’s Godzilla vs. Kong did in early 2021. However, the dinosaur sequel was moved to second place during the weekend when the touching Chinese drama Lighting Up the Stars debuted on Friday and quickly rose to the first position.
Jurassic World Dominion scored $12.5 million in its third frame according to estimates from Artisan Gateway while Lighting Up the Stars with $31.8 million, took home the weekend’s top prize. The movie earned a total of $114.6 million in China from its $746.7 million in global revenue. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom grossed more than twice that amount — $261 million — in 2018 when Hollywood blockbusters were still performing well in the nation.
Lighting Up the Stars is being made by Beijing-based Lian Ray Pictures, which has produced the Oscar-nominated Derek Tsang film Better Days and the box office hits Little Red Flower and Peter Chan’s Leap. Lighting Up the Stars, written and directed by Jiangjiang Liu, depicts the story of a chance meeting between a funeral director and an orphaned little girl. Local filmgoers gave the cinema high social ratings, with Maoyan giving it a 9.6 and Douban giving it a 7.5. Maoyan anticipates that the picture will gain traction in the following weeks, eventually grossing more than $130 million.
Overall, because of the country’s dynamic zero-COVID strategy to the epidemic, China’s box office is still struggling in 2022. Total ticket income was down 38.3 percent as of Monday compared to the same time in 2021. Rising nationalism and strained diplomatic relations have also reduced the amount of foreign films distributed in the country. There are currently no Hollywood releases slated in the following weeks or months.
