Coronavirus: in China, packed cinemas and deserted trains mark ‘surreal’ Lunar New Year
- Latest instalment in the Detective Chinatown movie franchise sets revenue records in first few days of holiday
- Residents stay put for the break this year, heeding advice not to travel to their hometowns
In a shot in the arm for the world’s biggest movie market, a mystery-comedy adventure set in Tokyo broke China’s box office record by earning 2.233 billion yuan (US$345 million) between its release on Friday and Sunday morning, the shortest time taken for a movie to surpass the 2 billion yuan mark.
Detective Chinatown 3 , the latest instalment in the popular franchise, took 1.05 billion yuan on Friday, according to the China Film Administration.
The movie features Chinese actors Wang Baoqiang, Liu Haoran, Thai martial arts legend Tony Jaa and Japanese pop star Satoshi Tsumabuki.
According to box office tracking service Maoyan Entertainment, more than 4 billion yuan in tickets, including pre-sales, had been sold by noon Sunday, more than two-thirds of the 5.85 billion yuan in takings recorded for the seven-day holiday in 2019. That is despite cinemas being restricted to 75 per cent capacity.
“I got up at seven in the morning but found tickets for 8am were sold out,” one Weibo user wrote.