'Mission: Impossible III' ran up $2.5 mil in its first weekend at the Chinese B.O.
After numerous delays and doubts that it would ever play China, "Mission: Impossible III" is doing surprisingly well at the box office.
Tom Cruise starrer finally opened on the mainland July 20 and has pulled in $6.3 million, with a remarkable $2.5 million of that coming in its first weekend.
Actioner was held up by censors' ire at depictions of dirty laundry and inept policemen in China's commercial center, Shanghai. A summer blackout on foreign movies didn't help, either.
Hot on the heels of "MI3' " is Wilson Yip's chopsocky romp "Dragon Tiger Gate," which sent July out on a high note with a boffo $1.85 million in its opening weekend.
"Dragon Tiger Gate" distrib Beijing Polybona expects B.O. of at least $6.25 million in China from the $8 million pic, which features kung fu star Donnie Yen and singer Nicholas Tse. That's down from the original forecast of $10 million on the mainland. Pic grossed $3.75 million in its opening weekend in Asia, Polybona said.
Although "MI3" looks unlikely to pick up the $12.5 million distributors were hoping for, it's on track for $10 million, a robust perf despite pirates who have flooded the market with DVDs of the actioner. UIP estimated the delayed bigscreen release may have cost it 40% of its potential revenues.
B.O. is an improvement on the first two outings here for the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, which garnered B.O. of around $5 million each in 1996 and 2000.
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