Ma Li (left) and Shen Teng in a still from 'Successor'.
BEIJING: Comedy-drama 'Successor' leads China's 2024 summer box office, grossing 3.25 billion yuan (US$456mil).
The film, co-directed by Yan Fei and Peng Damo and stars Shen Teng, Ma Li, and Shi Pengyuan, charts the ups and downs of a poor dad and a hardworking mum living in a broken yard and falling behind others on the road to prosperity.
In second place was 'A Place Called Silence', which grossed over 1.3 billion yuan. Directed by Malaysian Sam Quah, the crime thriller escalates the suspense and tackles hot-button social issues such as school bullying.
The third spot was claimed by the imported film 'Alien: Romulus', which exceeded 600 million yuan, emerging as a "dark horse" late in the season. The film is a new installment in the classic Hollywood sci-fi thriller franchise Alien and continues to appeal to its fan base in China.
Directed by Fede Alvarez and produced by Ridley Scott, the film takes the phenomenally successful "Alien" franchise back to its roots: A crew of space explorers come face to face with one of the most terrifying life forms in the universe.
The film's heightened tension and intense horror effects have resonated strongly with Chinese audiences, making China the film's largest box office market globally.
The success of 'A Place Called Silence' and 'Alien: Romulus', ranking second and third respectively, highlights the growing popularity of suspense and thriller genres over the past two years.
'Moments We Shared' and 'Deadpool and Wolverine' rounded out the top five. The Marvel superhero sequel's earnings on Monday (Sept 2) should bring the film's domestic tally to $603.8 million, with a global total of $1.25 billion.
Led by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, the third film in the Deadpool saga has broken several box office records since its July 26 release.
China's summer box office -- from June 1 to Aug 31 -- grossed a total of 11.64 billion yuan ($1.63 billion), having a total of 285 million admissions, according to statistics from the National Film Administration.
Domestic films accounted for 8.48 billion yuan, representing 72.84 per cent of the total box office revenue.
Compared to the same period last year, both box office revenue and audience numbers saw a significant decline. This summer, only two films managed to surpass the 1 billion yuan mark in box office earnings. - China Daily/ANN
