China Box Office: 'A Dog's Purpose' Bites 'Logan' in Weekend Ticket Sales

This post comes courtesy of our content partners at China Film Insider.

A Dog’s Purpose scored a surprising upset over Logan this past weekend, becoming the first Hollywood import since last year’s animated animal-kingdom breakout, Zootopia to improve upon its opening weekend earnings the second time around.

Directed by Swedish auteur-gone-Hollywood, Lasse Hallström, who also helmed Chinese favorite Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose grossed RMB 148 million (USD 21.4 million) – a 23 percent surge – to reach a total of RMB 370 million (USD 53.7 million).

Boosted by strong word-of-mouth among female moviegoers, who account for nearly 60 percent of the film’s ticket buyers, A Dog’s Purpose will undoubtedly surpass its North American total (USD 61.8 million), making it the third Hollywood import in the past month, following xXx: The Return of Xander Cage and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter to claim such a distinction.

Meanwhile, Fox’s Logan slid 62 percent from its opening weekend, selling RMB 127 million (USD 18.5 million) worth of tickets. The R-rated superhero flick, starring Hugh Jackman in his final appearance as the Wolverine, hit Chinese screens in an abridged version, minus 14-minutes of violence, profanity, and (bafflingly) some of its end credits.

Logan has now grossed RMB 602 million (USD 87.3 million), but with Beauty and the Beast’s impending release on Friday, it will likely fall short of the RMB 721 million and RMB 803 million totals achieved by X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Among the weekend’s eight new releases, only Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV cracked the top five, scoring a RMB 21 million (USD 3.0 million) debut in fourth place. Despite the weak showing, Kingsglaive easily outgrossed its limited-release Japanese and North American runs of last summer.

This Friday, Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast gets a global day-and-date release. CFI will have a complete box office preview in Thursday’s On Screen China.

Photo courtesy of China film Insider