Youth dramas rule at China box office

Le Vision Pictures’ Tiny Times 4.0 is the final installment in the popular youth franchise, directed by Guo Jingming and based on his novels, about a group of young people navigating career, romance and friendships in Shanghai. The film opened on July 9 and clocked up 11.7 million admissions in four days.

Forever Young, directed by singer-actor-TV host He Jiong and based on one of his songs, was released on July 10 and pulled in 8 million admissions in three days. The cast is headed by Li Yifeng and Zhang Huiwen.

Chen Kaige’s Monk Comes Down The Mountain added a further $22.93m in its first full week (July 6-12), and has now grossed $60.65m after 11 days. It was followed by local animation Monkey King: Hero Is Back, which grossed $13.89m in its opening three days, for a cume of $15.39m including advance ticket sales.

Jurassic World, the sole foreign import in the top ten this week, managed another $6.56m for a cume of $228.74m. Local animation GG Bond Movie: Ultimate Battle came in sixth with $4.77m in its opening three days.

Justin Lin-produced Hollywood Adventures came in seventh with $4.72m for a cume of $51.62m after 17 days and was followed by SPL2: A Time For Consequences, which took $3.66m for a cume of $89.83m after 25 days.

Rounding out the chart were Derek Yee-produced I Am Somebody, which took a further $3.27m for a cume of $9.87m, and Chang Chen Ghost Stories, which grossed $1.28m for a cume of $3.27m.

Hollywood films are being held at bay this month while a string of high-profile local titles are released. However, some imported films are joining the fray –  StudioCanal’s Shaun The Sheep, produced by Aardman Animations, opens this weekend.

Local films set for release this weekend include Raman Hui’s live-action adventure Monster Hunt and superhero spoof movie Jian Bing Man, featuring a cameo from Jean-Claude Van Damme.