Spider-Man stretches its lead
Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day held the top spot at the China mainland box office for a second consecutive weekend, adding $28.9 million (RMB 196.6 million) across the Aug. 7–9 frame. After 12 days in release, the film has cumulated $185.4 million (RMB 1.26 billion) locally, putting it within reach of the $199 million earned by 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, the last U.S. superhero title to clear $100 million in the market. The film's opening included a record $19 million Imax portion of a $121.3 million five-day launch.
The Odyssey sets an Imax preview record
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which does not open wide in China until Friday, drew $6.9 million (RMB 46.8 million) from Saturday–Sunday play on Imax and CINITY screens only, enough for fifth place and roughly 7 percent of the entire weekend's business from a small footprint of locations. Earlier four-city previews on Aug. 1–2 posted a 95.2 percent occupancy rate, described by local media citing tracker Dengta as an all-time high for the Chinese market. The 177-minute Greek-epic adaptation, the first feature shot entirely on Imax film cameras, holds an 8.3 user score on Douban, the summer's top mark for a live-action release, and had already crossed $1 billion globally before the Chinese run began.
Chinese titles fill out the chart
Local productions dominated the middle of the ranking. Pearl Studio's All Wishes Come True stayed second in its fourth weekend with $20.4 million (RMB 138.8 million), lifting its total to $210.6 million (RMB 1.43 billion) and making it the highest-grossing animated feature in China this year. Wen Muye's war comedy Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, produced by Ning Hao's Dirty Monkeys Studio and starring Shen Teng, opened its previews with $15 million (RMB 101.8 million) ahead of its Tuesday release, enough for third. Debuting in fourth, Enlight Animation's first in-house feature To Your Island opened with $7.9 million (RMB 53.6 million).
Year-to-date market context
Nationwide weekend grosses totaled $97.3 million, down about a quarter from the previous frame. China's 2026 box office now stands at $3.57 billion, off 31.8 percent from the same point in 2025; the year-on-year gap has narrowed steadily from nearly 56 percent in March. The comparison is distorted by Ne Zha 2, which alone collected more than $2 billion in the market during the first half of 2025, helping explain why Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Soccer, absent from the top ten for the first time since its July 11 release, has cumulated roughly $318.5 million.
What to watch next
The Odyssey opens wide across China on Friday, offering the first test of whether Chinese moviegoers' renewed appetite for Hollywood extends beyond Spider-Man. Industry attention will also turn to the Tuesday release of Once Upon a Time in the Middle East and to next weekend's full domestic tally once both new titles join the marketplace.
Share this article
