China’s summer season surged past $654.26m (RMB4.45bn) after 49 days as Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Soccer continued its reign in its second weekend and local animation All Wishes Come True! opened strongly.
Following a quiet start in June, the summer box office has gained traction, reaching $654.26m (RMB4.45bn) after seven weeks and surpassing the $561m (RMB3.82bn) collected during the same period (June 1-July 19) in 2025.
Strong ticket sales boosted last week’s box office (July 13-19) to $222.35m (RMB1.51bn), up 72.7% week-on-week. The growth was primarily a result of Kung Fu Soccer, which continued to rule the box office and added $73.7m (RMB501.1m) in its second weekend (July 17-19), bringing its cumulative to $214.3m (RMB1.46bn) after nine days of release.
The film revolves around a women’s football team, merging the sport with martial arts. It is only the fourth feature directed by Chow but not starring himself since the popular comedic actor quit performing to focus on filmmaking.
An international roll out in set to begin following its success in mainland China. Singapore-based Encore Films, which handles international sales, will open the film in Singapore on August 6, Malaysia (August 13), the Philippines (August 19) and Thailand (August 20). It will co-distribute with PT Omega – the distribution arm of Cinema XXI – in Indonesia from August 12, and with Intercontinental Film Distributors in Hong Kong and Macao from August 13.
The summer box office was also fired up by Chinese animated feature All Wishes Come True!, which opened strongly with $39.6m (RMB269m) including previews from its two-day opening weekend (July 18-19). Its release date was recently shifted from July 24 to July 18.
The animated directing debut of Mu Zhengyang is a fantasy comedy inspired by well-known Chinese legend The Eight Immortals Crossing The Sea. The protagonists are eight characters of humble origins who beat their divine opponents through courage and intelligence, proving mortals can outwit the gods. Backers are Beijing-based Pearl Studio (formerly Oriental Dreamworks, with credits including Kung Fu Panda 3 and Abominable) and CMC Pictures.
The film is also set to open in a string of overseas markets, including Australia and New Zealand on August 13; the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands on August 14; and Belgium and Luxembourg on September 4.
Ranking third at the Chinese box office was Ma Yingxin’s sisterhood drama A Part Of Me, which took $13.6m (RMB92.4m) from its three-day opening weekend.
Box office sources: Artisan Gateway, ticketing platform Maoyan
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