'Dark Phoenix' leads sluggish Dragon Boat Festival box office

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Debuting in China just ahead of the country's Dragon Boat Festival holiday, “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”, the latest installment of 20th Century Fox's franchise, topped the weekly box office chart to no surprise, despite not-as-good-as-expected ticket sales.

The new installment earned 307 million yuan (44.29 million U.S. dollars) during its first weekend, with 219 million yuan (31.59 million U.S. dollars) flowing in during the three-day holiday of the Dragon Boat Festival.

It was the lowest income for the franchise since 2014, when “X-Men: Days of Future Past” earned 174 million yuan (25.1 million U.S. dollars), according to Maoyan.com, China's largest online film ticket service website.

A still from "X-Men: Dark Phoenix". /Photo via Douban.com

It is likely that the failure of new releases to meet audiences' high expectations finally led to the lower box office figures.

Maoyan's data show that audience satisfaction was at its lowest point in five years.

Despite featuring a struggling female heroine, a deviation from the usual superhero storylines which are more familiar to Chinese fans, “Dark Phoenix” is more like a hasty graduation paper handed in by 20th Century Fox, plunging itself into the arms of Walt Disney after the latter's 71-billion-dollar acquisition.

“Compared to Marvel Studio's decade-long arrangement for its 'Avengers' franchise, the 'X-Men' conclusion is like a forced one,” a Chinese fan wrote on Douban.com, one of China's most popular review platforms. “All the plot twists are too abrupt, with very poor logic.”

A still from film "X-Men: Dark Phoenix". /Photo via Douban.com

There are also complaints about the film's rhythm being boring and lengthy.

“My friend, who is a fan of the ‘X-Men' franchise, left in the middle,” another Douban user wrote in a comment, adding with regrets “it is a mediocre ending to the 20-year history of the X-Men epic.”

The film has only scored six out of 10 points on Douban.

“Godzilla: King of Monsters”, adding 282 million yuan (40.68 million U.S. dollars) to its account in the past week, came in at second spot. The new installment of the MonsterVerse franchise has also failed to meet fans' high expectations, with complaints over the awkward storyline behind the human actors and disappointing monster fights.

A still from "Chasing the Dragon II: Master of Ransom”. /Photo via Douban.com

Hong Kong crime film “Chasing the Dragon II: Master of Ransom” is at third place, grossing 195 million yuan (28.13 million U.S. dollars) during the first weekend.

It is no exaggeration to say that nearly all Chinese-speaking audiences have a complex with Hong Kong films, which were at their most popular during the 1980s and 1990s. But even this one failed to ignite audiences during the holiday, with many saying director Wong Jing was just trying to extend the hits of the first of the franchise.

Though the film has successfully gathered some of the biggest Hong Kong stars, such as Louis Koo Tin-lok, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Gordon Lam Ka-tung and Simon Yam Tat-wah, its Douban rating still fell to 5.8 soon after its release.

Teen movie “My Best Summer” grabbed 173 million yuan (24.96 million U.S. dollars) during the Dragon Boat Festival. Starring teenage stars Chen Feiyu and He Landou, the film is an adaptation of a popular novel depicting the lives and romances of high school students.

A still from "My Best Summer". /Photo via Douban.com

Receiving only 5.8 on Douban, the film also earns more criticism than praise. But given the fact that Chinese teen films are always criticized for being stereotypical, surreal and superficial, the rating is not shocking at all.

Aside from some adolescents or fans of the novels, who likely walked out of the cinema with red eyes, most of the audience found neither surprises nor disappointment from the film, since they had little expectations from the beginning.

“Aladdin” fell to fifth place, with 63.5 million yuan (9.16 million U.S. dollars) of new earnings. Its general box office now stands at 336 million yuan (48.47 million U.S. dollars).

A still from "Men in Black: International". /Photo via Douban.com

The forthcoming week in the Chinese film market sees a number of new releases, including Hollywood's “Men in Black: International”, “A City Called Macau” by Chinese female director Li Shaohong, and Russian film “Going Vertical”, which is based on a real story.

The fourth of the “Men in Black” franchise, starring Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, both of whom starred in the latest Avengers movie, is no doubt among the most highly anticipated new movies.

However, with a number of Hollywood blockbusters sinking this year, it seems that past glories do not necessarily secure a successful sequel. Overseas big-budget productions still need a good story to earn the hearts of Chinese audiences.

Cover image by Zhang Xuecheng