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“Across the Furious Sea” is a violent tale about a family tragedy starring Chinese veterans Huang Bo and Zhou Xun, while it is adapted from a novel of the same name written by Lao Huang. This film marks the last installment of director Cao's acclaimed “Heartburn” crime thriller trilogy with “The Dead End” (2015) being the first and followed by “The Perfect Blue” in 2022.

Fisherman Jin Yun Shi is a dedicated father who runs a fleet of fishing boats and works hard to fund his daughter Jin Li Na who is studying in Japan. Upon hearing from his ex-wife that their daughter has disappeared, he promptly sets off to Kyoto to find her. As he learns more about her life, Li Miao Miao, her boyfriend seems to be the closest connection. While he tries to track him down, he receives the terrible news that his daughter Nana is dead, stabbed at least seventeen times.

China’s video streamers, much like their counterparts in the west, have passed their peak growth phase and have been forced to refocus their efforts on achieving profitability. In the case of IQiyi, which is a subsidiary of tech giant Baidu but has its own stock market listing on the Nasdaq, that transition has meant reduced content spending and a more rigorous approach to quality and investment in winning shows.

“To the Wonder,” which debuted on Sunday in competition at Canneseries, is a product of that less-is-more approach. It follows the appearance of IQiyi’s crime drama “Why Try to Change Me Now” in the 2023 Berlin Series lineup.

The eight-part “To the Wonder,” which shares a title with the 2012 fantasy film by Terrence Malick but has no connection to it, is a big-budget heart-warmer that stars Ma Yili (“The First Half of My Life”), Zhou Yiran (“Across the Furious Sea”) and Yu Shi.

‘Napoleon’ dropped to second in global chart; hits $137m after second session.

Worldwide box office Dec 1-3 RankFilm (distributor)3-day (world) Cume (world)3-day (int’l) Cume (int’l) Territories 1. Animal (various) $42.1m $42.1m $36.1m $36.1m 38 2. Napoleon (Sony) $35.7m $136.6m $28.6m $90.9m 64 3. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes (Lionsgate) $29.4m $243.9m $14.9m $122.7m 88 4. Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce (Trafalgar) $27.4m $27.4m $6.4m $6.4m 95 5. Wish (Disney) $26.2m $81.5m $18.8m $39.6m 34 6. Across The Furious Sea (various) $19.5m $59.5m $19.5m $59.5m 1 7. 12:12: The Day (Seoul Spring) $14.4m $28.5m $14.4m $28.5m 1 8. So Long For Love (various) $11.6m $12.7m $11.6m $12.7m...

Ridley Scott’s historical epic “Napoleon” was cruelly defeated at the mainland Chinese box office, where it opened in only fifth place on its opening weekend.

Chinese crime thriller “Across the Furious Sea” headed the mainland China charts for a second weekend, earning $20.0 million (RMB142 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

“Napoleon” earned just $2.8 million ($19.6 million) in China, according to the firm whose figures are generally considered as final, not estimates.

The film earned generally mixed to positive reviews, but only a middling score of 6.6 out of 10 from users of the Douban movie fan site. But it appears that Chinese audiences found the travails of an ancient French emperor to be too much of a specialist topic. Ticketing firm and data provider, Maoyan showed that “Napoleon’s” viewers in China were two thirds male. It also forecasts that the film will end up with final revenues short of $5 million.

Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” could be facing a Waterloo in China, where early box office indications point to a disappointing opening shot.

The Apple Original Films production had clocked RMB6.1 million by 7:45 p.m. local time in mainland China on Friday, according to estimates from ticketing and box office tracking firm Maoyan.

That was only good enough for fourth place behind a trio of local films – two holdovers and one new release title. Market leader,“Across the Furious Sea” had taken RMB27.9 million ($3.88 million) by the same point on Friday, for a seven-day cumulative of $44 million.

Maoyan’s early tracking shows “Napoleon” with a market share marginally more than 8%, a figure borne out by similar data from another Chinese source, Ent Group. Presales through the weekend give the film 6-8%, though that could vary quickly if exhibitors support the title or turn against it. Ent Group shows “Napoleon” playing some 14,000 screenings on Friday.

The opening numbers for Napoleon have come in at the top end of expectations.

Worldwide box office Nov 24-26 Rank Film (distributor)3-day (world)Cume (world)3-day (int’l)Cume (int’l)Territories 1. Napoleon (Sony) $66.7m $78.8m $46.3m $46.3m 57 2. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes (Lionsgate) $55m $197.2m $26.2m $98.9m 88 3. Wish (Disney) $36.8m $49m $17.3m $17.3m 28 4. Across The Furious Sea (various) $24.5m $24.6m $24.5m $24.6m 1 5. Trolls Band Together (Universal) $20.6m $145.8m $3.1m $81.3m 68 6. The Marvels (Disney) $14.3m $187m $7.9m $110.2m 53 7. 12:12 The Day (Seoul Spring) (various) $11.8m $12m $11.8m $12m 1 8. Thanksgiving (Sony) $8.6m $29m $1.5m $4.9m 17 9. Five...

China’s nationwide annual box office passed the symbolic $7 billion and Rmb 50 billion marks in recent days, confirming a decent, but still incomplete recovery of the theatrical cinema industry.

According to consultancy Artisan Gateway, the running box office total to Nov. 26 was $7.15 billion. That is a 79% rebound compared with 2022, when much of the year was wiped out by strict anti-covid restrictions. But it is 15% below pre-covid performance in 2019.

The weak economy may be having an impact, but the inconsistent supply of audience-friendly films is also likely a factor. Clustering around peak holiday periods continues to be the prevailing pattern and distributors have recently postponed the release of at least one major title until February’s 2024 Chinese New Year season.

Revenues over the latest weekend were $52.3 million, powered by an all-new top five and a good opening from “Across the Furious Sea,” a crime thriller starring Huang Bo and Zhou Xun.

Local crime thriller Across the Furious Sea, directed and co-written by Cao Baoping, dominated China’s box office over the weekend with a $24.7 million two-day opening kicking off Saturday. The film’s strong start continues a recent market trend of Chinese moviegoers favoring well-told local crime stories.

But it was another weekend of struggle for Hollywood filmmaking in China. Disney Animation’s Wish opened in fifth place with only $3.5 million in ticket revenue, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, meanwhile, plummeted in its second frame, earning a little under $1 million. Disney’s The Marvels likewise continued its decline, slipping off of China’s top 10 list for the weekend (the film’s total sits at $16 million and it is unlikely to earn much more — making for an all-time low for an MCU tentpole).

Across the Furious Sea marks a long-coming culmination for Cao,...