“Avatar” is not only breaking away from “Avengers: Endgame” on the all-time box office charts thanks to its re-release in China, but it now has also grossed more in the past 10 days than Disney’s remake of “Mulan” did with Chinese audiences.
In the second weekend of its re-release, the 2009 James Cameron blockbuster added $14 million, falling just 33% from the $21 million it made last weekend to retake the all-time box office crown from “Endgame.” With a 10-day re-release total of $44 million, “Avatar” has now passed the $41 million that Disney’s live-action”Mulan” grossed in China last September.
While “Mulan” received a generally positive response in the U.S. from critics but a lukewarm reception from fans of the 1998 animated film, it was criticized by Chinese audiences who viewed it as an inaccurate, Americanized version of one of the most beloved tales in Chinese culture. Despite Disney’s hopes that the film would appeal to Chinese audiences with homegrown stars like Liu Yifei and Gong Li headlining the cast, “Mulan” only made about a third of the $120 million that the “Lion King” remake made in China.
Also Read: 'Raya and the Last Dragon' Holds Strong With Another $5.2 Million at Box Office
“Avatar,” meanwhile, has always been popular in China, still holding a 9.3/10 on popular movie site Maoyan and sporting a $202 million Chinese gross during its initial theatrical run. Last weekend, it became the first Hollywood blockbuster this year to take the No. 1 spot on the country’s box office charts, taking advantage of a theatrical market that has grown radically since it first hit the big screen over a decade ago.
Depending on how well “Avatar” holds over the next couple of weeks, the re-release could become the highest grossing Hollywood film in China since the pandemic forced theaters to close there in January 2020. That bar has been set by Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which grossed $66 million in China last summer. Other films “Avatar” can pass include Pixar’s “Soul” ($57 million) and Universal/DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” ($53 million).
Overall, “Avatar” now has a lifetime box office total of $2.83 billion, putting it approximately $36 million ahead of the total for “Avengers: Endgame.”
biran0 on March 22nd, 2021 at 02:04 UTC »
I'm sure this has been said a thousand times, but I still can't believe they thought they could get rid of Mushu and the songs when those are literally the only things that told us what Mulan herself was thinking or feeling.
Instead we get no replacement and we just stick Mulan in an army where no one is her friend, no one has any personality and she doesn't confide in anyone. Add the fact that the actress can't act well enough to convey all we need to know and boom, we've got a character we don't relate to or care about.
Too bad the message was supposed to be empowerment and ended up being "you need mega magic chi to compete with men". What a waste.
drcash360-2ndaccount on March 21st, 2021 at 22:08 UTC »
Mulan was trash
delayed_burn on March 21st, 2021 at 22:04 UTC »
mulan was widely panned in china as being a failed attempt to pander to chinese audiences due to its portrayal of chinese culture and a shallow understanding of what chinese people respect. it ended up being an abomination of western cultural values being pushed with a coat of chinese of paint. i'm not surprised. i'm sure many more movies will go on to exceed mulan's revenue in china.