[2025.02.18] CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD TOPS THE LUNAR NEW YEAR BOX OFFICE

NE ZHA 2 breaks 12 billion yuan RMB at the box office and successfully entering the global box office top ten
courtesy of singtao.com

NE ZHA 2 overtakes THE LION KING for the 10th place on the global box office

CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD after 5 days in release made over HK$ 10 million

DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 1900 made 3.1 billion yuan RMB in mainland and opened in Hong Kong Thursday. As of two days ago it made HK$ 2.5 million
courtesy of mingpao.com

This year the Hong Kong Lunar New Year film had sluggish performances. As of the day before yesterday (16th), HIT N FUN (LUM SI KUET DAU) and MY BEST BET (CHEUNG DOH BIT YANG) after 20 days in release received HK$ 12 million and 11 million respectively, and QUEEN OF MAHJONG (MA JEUK NUII WONG JUI NAM JAI) received about 3.8 million. Philip Keung Ho Man (Hak Jai) and his wife Yin Ning collaborated on HA HA HA HAPPY NEW YEAR, which opened in the second slot of the Lunar New Year and received HK$ 300,000 after 11 days in release! However, the Marvel superhero film CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD outperformed the market, collecting more than 10 million in five days in release. The mainland animated film NE ZHA 2, which is full of momentum in the mainland, has exceeded 12 billion yuan (about 12.9 billion Hong Kong dollars) at the box office yesterday, and its Hong Kong premiere would be held today.

NE ZHA 2 opened for the Spring Festival in the mainland and its box office performance was gangbusters. As of yesterday it has broken through 12 billion yuan, surpassing THE LION KING to become the 10th place in the global film history box office list. It is expected to top the global animated film box office list. The current champion INSIDE OUT 2 received 12.319 billion yuan RMB. NE ZHA 2 was also very popular in North America, with a total of US$8.2 million (about HK$64 million) so far it ranked fourth at the North American box office. It also surpassed the total overseas box office of NE ZHA. As for fellow Spring Festival release, the Chow Yun Fat (Fat Gor), Wang Baoqiang and Turbo Liu Haoran starred DETECTIVE CHINATOWN 1900 collected 3.1 billion yuan. It was released in Hong Kong last Thursday and received 2.5 million Hong Kong dollars as of the day before yesterday.

In addition, NE ZHA 2 has made a total of more than 1,900 special effects shots, more than 10,000 special effects elements, because the length and some of the fight scenes were too violent, about half an hour of shot design has been deleted. A large number of NE ZHA 2 deleted scenes have been leaked on the Internet recently. Director Jiaozi said that considering the plot and rhythm, only what was needed most could be retained, and only the most essential part could be left behind. The cuts include the fight between Ne Zha and the Dragon King in the East Sea at the beginning of the movie, as well as the fight scenes of Ao Bing, Ne Zha and the other three Great Dragon Kings.

As the NE ZHA 2 whirlwind hit Hong Kong, tonight at the premiere ceremony on the first floor of the Jade Pearl Plaza in Causeway Bay, bosses of co-distributors Mandarin Motion Pictures and Emperor Motion Pictures, Raymond Wong Pak Ming and Albert Yeung Sau Sing, executive deputy director of the National Film Bureau Mao Yu, chairman of Bauhinia Culture Group Xu Zhengzhong, secretary-general of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government Wang Songmiao, and the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau secretary Rosanna Law Shuk Pui attended as officiating guests, as well as director of the Office of the National Film Administration Lu Lixian, director of the Art Division of the National Film Administration Zhong Minglan, director of the Import Division of the National Film Administration Jiang Xiaoling, Film and Television Director of Bauhinia Culture Group Deng Wugui, and Deputy Director of the Publicity, Culture and Sports Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government Li Shuguang, etc. NE ZHA 2 is expected to open in Hong Kong on February 27th 2025 (next Thursday); the film would be a joint distribution of the four great cinema circuits Emperor, MCL, Sil-Metropole and Cinema City.

Although this year's Lunar New Year Hong Kong films failed, The Julius Onah directed, Anthony Mackey and Harrison Ford starred CAPTAIN AMERICA 4: BRAVE NEW WORLD was a box office hit. Collecting HK$ 10.56 million in 5 days of release, the film brought an impact to the quiet film market. The film was also released in Taiwan last Wednesday (12th), and the cumulative box office exceeded NT$ 48.07 million in 5 days to become the box office champion in Taiwan. As for the opening of the film in the United States last Friday, it coincided with the Presidents' Day holiday. The 4 day box office was 100 million US dollars (about 780 million Hong Kong dollars) to become the opening champion, and it pulled significantly away second and third place PADDINGTON IN PERU and the animation DOG MAN. The two films collected 16 million and 12.5 million US dollars (about 124 million and 97.5 million Hong Kong dollars) respectively.

The Rotten Tomatoes film review website in the United States only gave "Captain America 4" a barely passing score of 51% but the audience's favorability rate reached 80%, reflecting that the audience voted for it with real money. The film was released on the same day in the United States and the mainland, collecting 78.58 million yuan in the mainland before the deadline yesterday and US$192 million (about HK$1.5 billion) globally. With the production cost of US$180 million (about HK $1.4 billion), it should bring a lot of income to the film company.