China Box Office: ‘Octopus With Broken Arms’ Leads Quiet Start to 2025

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2025 saw the debut of the Chinese box office, where “Octopus with Broken Arms” took the lead during its opening weekend, raking in a total of approximately 117.5 million RMB ($16.1 million), as reported by Artisan Gateway, a consulting firm.

Last week’s second-place debut for the As One Production release has moved up to become number one this week, under the direction of Jacky Gan. This crime thriller centers around Zheng Bingrui, a wealthy businessman portrayed by Xiao Yang, whose daughter is kidnapped during a holiday celebration. The film’s accumulated earnings now reach an impressive $74.7 million.

In its second weekend, Gengxi Pictures’ “Big World,” which was last week’s box office leader, earned an additional $11.4 million, placing it in the second spot. Directed by Yang Lina, the drama follows a young man with cerebral palsy, portrayed by Jackson Yee, as he prepares for college exams while helping his grandmother, played by Diana Lin, with a stage production. The movie’s overall earnings have now surpassed $77.8 million.

The movie titled “Honey Money Phony,” distributed by Maoyan Pictures on December 31, opened in third position with earnings of $7.5 million. Directed by Su Biao, this comedy revolves around Lin Qinglang (played by Jin Chen), a working woman who finds herself in financial trouble when a well-meaning promise backfires. Her tale becomes entangled with Ouyang Hui (portrayed by Sunny Sun), a swindler whose presence sets off a series of unforeseen events in both their lives.

The movie titled ‘Hot Pot Artist,’ produced by Chengdu Film Group and released on January 3rd, debuted at the fourth spot with a gross of $1.8 million. Directed by Cui Zhijia and featuring him as Li Ruyi, this film narrates the tale of a man from Northeast China striving to realize his dream as a film director. As his professional journey doesn’t unfold as anticipated, he finds himself back in his hometown running his father-in-law’s hot pot restaurant, encountering unforeseen hurdles and personal development along the way.

Sliding down two spots from third place last week, I found myself in fifth spot this time around with “Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital.” Originally released in Japan way back in 2003, this anime has managed to rake in an additional $1.5 million over the weekend, boosting its total earnings to a whopping $13.8 million. Directed by the talented Kodama Kenji, the movie follows the adventures of Conan Edogawa and Heiji Hattori as they unravel the mystery behind a stolen Healing Buddha statue. As a die-hard fan, I can’t wait to see where it ranks next week!

Concurrently, the film “Paddington in Peru” made its debut at number six and accumulated $3.9 million during its first five days in cinemas, as reported by Ent Group. In eighth position, “Mufasa: The Lion King” has earned a total of $14 million after being screened for 17 days, also according to Ent Group’s data.

Over the past weekend, the total box office earnings amounted to $44.3 million, a decrease from the impressive $68.3 million earned during the last weekend of 2024. However, even with a more subdued beginning, the overall earnings for 2025 have climbed to $95.9 million, representing a 5.9% increase compared to the same timeframe in the previous year.

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2025-01-06 10:46