xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage beat out La La Land and Sing at the Chinese box office. The action thriller opened in China February 10 with a $61.9 million start. After only 10 days, xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage has grossed $134 million in China – triple its $44 million total in North America.
What is xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage doing that’s winning Chinese audiences, but not American ones? There are several factors.
Fast And Furious 7, a film headlining xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage lead actor, Vin Diesel, remains the biggest Hollywood film in China. Diesel’s popularity, combined with the brand power of huge local celebrities, Donnie Yen and Kris Wu, probably had a hand in the excellent box office numbers.
xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage is also the first release under the $1 billion slate financing deal between Paramount Pictures, Shanghai Film Group and Huahua Media. The Chinese investors of the film had recruited the help of local mobile ticketing service, Weying, to stream the Chinese premiere of the film on Tencent, China’s most popular messaging app, and send push notifications to WeChat users during the opening weekend.
xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage’s $26.5 million earnings of the weekend came first to Universal’s Sing, which earned $11.9 million. Oscar favorite, La La Land, pulled in $8.5 million, earning it third place on its first weekend at the Chinese box office.
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