China’s cinema box office trod water in the weekend ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays and an imminent surge of new release titles. These mean that the next few days could add up to the biggest week in Chinese movie history.
Over the latest weekend, though, the nationwide aggregate was a paltry $21.4 million, the lowest weekend this year, according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.
“Fireflies in the Sun,” a Wanda Pictures-backed thriller, said to be a remake of “John Q,” climbed back to first place with a $4.1 million take. It was first released in mid-December and has now built a cumulative of $174 million.
Patriotic pandemic film “Embrace Again” slipped to second place with $3.9 million, giving a running total of $148 million. Comedy, “Another Me” took $2.9 million for a $73 million cumulative since release on Jan. 1, 2022. Chinese crime…
