CHINA BOX OFFICE: The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies grossed $49.84m on its opening weekend in China, pushing record-breaking remake Miss Granny into second place.

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies

The Hobbit finale, a 3D and IMAX 3D-only release in China, pulled in 7.8 million admissions over its opening three days (Jan 23-25), according to EntGroup figures.

Last week’s chart topper, Korea-China co-production Miss Granny, came in second with a weekly gross of $12.24m (Jan 19-25) for a cumulative total of $51.69m after 18 days.

Produced by CJ E&M, which produced the original, the Chinese remake of the Korean hit is directed by Leste Chen and stars Yang Zishan in the story of an old woman who is transformed into her 20-year-old self (it has the international title 20, Once Again!).

The remake is now the highest-grossing Korea-China co-production ever, overtaking The Wedding Invitation, also co-produced by CJ, which grossed $31m in 2013.

Meanwhile, Legendary/Universal’s Seventh Son came in third with $9.66m for a cume of $25.81m after 10 days. China Film Group invested a seven-figure sum in the fantasy adventure, directed by Sergei Bodrov and starring Julianne Moore and Jeff Bridges. It opens in the US on February 6.

Night At The Museum: Secret Of The Tomb came in fourth with $6.26m for a cume of $48.62m after 22 days, followed by Tsui Hark’s The Taking Of Tiger Mountain, which grossed a further $3.62m over the week, for an impressive total of $139.18m after 34 days.

Clara Law’s The Unbearable Lightness of Inspector Fan, released by Le Vision Pictures, took sixth position in the chart, with $1.44m in its first full week for a cume of $3.74m, while the 3D re-release of Stephen Chow’s Kung-fu Hustle grossed $1.1m for a cume of $3.97m after 11 days.

Rounding out the chart were two more Le Vision releases – Qing Yang’s spy thriller The Lotus Code with $1.02m and animation sequel Boonie Bears: Mystical Warrior with $700,000 – followed by Bona/Herun’s Tales Of Mystery with $630,000.