Bad genius

Source: GDH 559 CO.

‘Bad Genius’

It was a hat trick for National Day champion Never Say Die while Thai blockbuster Bad Genius has become the No.1 Thai film.

The local body-swapping comedy continued to dominate the Chinese box office in its third week, taking $53.5m in the week of Oct 9-15 and lifting its 16-day total to $263.6m. It has now become the second highest grossing local film this year and the fourth highest grossing local film ever, after Wolf Warrior 2, The Mermaid and Monster Hunt.

Distributed by Hengye Pictures, Thai breakout hit Bad Genius opened strongly in second place with $16.1m from its three-day opening weekend and easily took the crown as the no.1 Thai film in China. The high school thriller is currently the top grossing Thai film in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The next four titles were National Day holdovers: Wong Jing’s Chasing The Dragon on $14.9m for $72m after 16 days; Da Peng’s City Of Rock on $13.5m for $50.4m after 17 days; Jackie Chan-starrer The Foreigner on $8.5m for $72.3m after 16 days; and Li Chen’s Sky Hunter on $5.4m for $41.5m after 17 days.

Four new releases rounded out the chart: local drama Hold Your Hands, starring Wang Xueqi, on $4.7m from its first three days; animation The Son Of Bigfoot on $2.2m from its first two days; local romance comedy Love Is A Broadway Hit on $1.5m from its first three days; and sci-fi romance The Space Between Us on $1.1m from its first three days.

Kingsmen: The Golden Circle is due to arrive in China on Oct 20, which will end the Chinese domination at the box office.