“Alien: Romulus” has emerged as Hollywood’s second-largest film of the year at the mainland China box office, following a robust second weekend performance. Over the weekend, the film earned RMB140 million ($19.7 million), according to Artisan Gateway. This adds to its impressive opening weekend total of $26.2 million, bringing its cumulative gross since its August 16 release to RMB523 million ($73.7 million). Among Hollywood imports in 2024, it trails only “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which has earned $134 million.
In just under two weeks, “Alien: Romulus” has surpassed several major Hollywood franchise films, each of which had previously struggled to break the $50 million mark in China. Notable entries include “Kung Fu Panda 4” with $52 million, “Despicable Me 4” with $56 million, “Dune 2” with $49.7 million, and “Inside Out 2” with $48 million. Additionally, IMAX reports that the film earned $2.75 million from its screens over the weekend, totaling $11.6 million on IMAX screens, or approximately 16% of its China total.
The weekend also saw the debut of Gu Changwei’s light drama “The Hedgehog,” which opened in second place, earning RMB74.4 million ($10.5 million). The film, which features popular actors Ge You and Karry Wang, tells the story of a rebellious teenager and his mentally disabled uncle.
Another new Chinese release, the crime drama “Untouchable,” directed by Wang Daqing and starring Shen Teng, Zhang Yuqi, and Jack Kao, earned RMB73.4 million ($10.3 million), placing it close behind. “Go for Broke,” a Chinese crime action film, slipped to fourth place in its second weekend with $7.1 million, bringing its ten-day total to $33.4 million.
Japanese animation “Detective Conan: The Million Dollar Pentagram” added $4.8 million in its second weekend, accumulating $29.2 million to date. Meanwhile, the Thai comedy-drama “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies” opened outside the top five with an estimated $4.4 million over three days.
The nationwide box office total for the weekend was $70.8 million, pushing the year-to-date total to $4.62 billion—more than 21% lower than the same period in 2023.
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