China Box Office: ‘Furiosa’ and ‘Civil War’ Both Fizzle

Warner Bros.’ Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and A24’s Civil War have both gotten off to a slow start at China’s box office. Furiosa, the first movie of George Miller’s Mad Max saga to be released theatrically in China, opened in sixth place with $3.7 million over the country’s Dragon Boat Festival holiday weekend as a batch of local releases dominated ticket sales. Alex Garland’s Civil War, meanwhile, debuted to just $2.4 million for eighth place, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

Civil War, made for about $50 million, was already an international hit with $69 million in total ticket revenue in North America and $114 million worldwide. But Miller’s Furiosa certainly could have used a bigger boost from China, as its $144 million total at the global box offices still lags behind its hefty $168 million production budget. Chinese ticketing app Maoyan forecasts Furiosa to finish its run with about $7.5 million and Civil War to top out at about $3.7 million.

Sony’s The Garfield Movie, which opened in second place a week ago, slipped to fourth place with $5.4 million in its second frame. The movie has earned $15.2 million after nine days on Chinese screens.

Chinese comedy Be My Friend, based on a TV show of the same name and directed by He Nian, won the weekend with $8.1 million. Crime comedy Walk the Line, from filmmaker Wubai, landed in second place with $7.8 million, while Crisis Negotiators, a Hong Kong remake of F. Gary Gray’s The Negotiator, came in third with $5.8 million.

As of Monday, total ticket revenue in China year-to-date was $3.15 billion, down 2.2 percent from the same period in 2023. Upcoming U.S. studio releases in China include Pixar’s Inside Out 2 on June 21 and Bad Boys 4 on June 22.

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