Shaheer Ahmed
With a massive opening weekend and a pumped-up first five days, “Fast & Furious 10” (also known as “Fast X”) swept the mainland China box office.
Artisan Gateway, a consulting group, reports that between Friday and Sunday, Fast X earned $51.1 million, giving it a 58% share of the Chinese box office.
The film’s Wednesday release was quite unusual. It raised $77.4 million in just five days.
Imax stated that the picture made $8.4 million in China from less than 1% of the screens in the market, which is 11% of the China market opening. The numbers represent the cumulative performance over five days, not just the weekend.
The opening weekend score came within a hair’s breadth of the opening weekend score of “Avatar 2” in December, and it was the largest opening for a non-Chinese picture this year.
Hollywood studios should take heart from such figures, despite the lackluster performance of their films in China over the previous two years. The next months of the year might bring other trips that are timed to coincide with the premiere of films in other countries.
However, the Fast series has always done much better in China. On its first day of release in China in 2015, “Fast 7” made RMB346 million, which is equivalent to around $49 million at today’s exchange rates. On its first day of release in 2018, “Fast 8” rushed to RMB417 million ($59.6 million).
The lifetime Chinese total for “Fast X” has been increased higher by Chinese ticketing agency Maoyan. Maoyan estimated $104 million after opening on Wednesday and made that prediction. It’s currently estimated that the picture might earn RMB840 million ($120 million) in China.
