So, it appears that we now know that “Aquaman” won’t flounder at the Chinese box office. The latest WB/DC superhero film, starring Jason “My Man!” Momoa, made its debut in the Middle Kingdom, and the film is now on pace to give the studio its best showing ever at the box office in the country.
Variety is reporting that “Aquaman” opened with an opening day debut of $24.6 million in China. Not only is this a strong opening for a film that Warner Bros. hopes can reignite fans’ interest in their superhero cinematic universe, but it actually is the best the studio has ever done. If these numbers hold up, “Aquaman” could be looking at a three-day opening weekend in the vicinity of $80 million.
Previously, the biggest debuts in China for WB belonged to “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which had an opening weekend of $55 million. Most recently, the superhero film “Justice League,” the first true appearance of Momoa’s character, debuted with a respectable $51.7 million. On the other hand, “Wonder Woman,” which by all regards, is one of WB’s strongest superhero films debuted with only $37.7 million in the country. Obviously, an $80 million number would be by far the largest opening, and puts it on track with some of the biggest opening weekends for an American film in Chinese history.
Looking outside of WB, Sony’s recent worldwide superhero hit “Venom” debuted in China with a $107 million weekend, which is quite a bit ahead of “Aquaman.” However, the numbers being put up by “Venom” in the country are stratospheric and should not be held against “Aquaman.” $80 million would put “Aquaman” ahead of “Mission: Impossible – Fallout” ($76 million), “Spider-Man: Homecoming” ($69 million), and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” ($67 million). Definitely not bad company to be in.
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Ultimately, depending on how high the film can go in China this weekend, “Aquaman” is poised to become the #5 best opening for a superhero film all time in the Asian country. Not too shabby at all.
In the US, we still have to wait a couple weeks before we can see the superhero film, as it smartly opened early in China to avoid the late-December congested market. And depending on how well the film does in the US, the WB/DC superhero film could actually have a bigger opening weekend in China than it does in its home country.
“Aquaman” opens in the US on December 21.