‘Battle At Lake Changjin 2’ Tops $350 Million As ‘Spider-Man’ Nears ‘Avatar’

In box office news that isn’t related to Jackass Forever ($9.6 million domestic) or Moonfall ($3.4 million domestic), China’s New Year’s week continued to pack them in. The two biggies of a crowded frame remain The Battle at Lake Changjin II with $52.2 million (bringing its cume to $352 million in just four days) and Too Cool to Kill with $38.7 million (for a $184 million four-day total thus far). The former is the second installment in the two-part, shot on IMAX, $200 million Korean War duology. The patriotic (but, I would argue, not quite nationalistic or terribly jingoistic) war flicks are directed by Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark and Dante Lam, a murder’s row of offscreen talent, and they both star Wu Jing (of The Wandering Earth and Wolf Warrior II) and Jackson Yee (from Better Days). 

The Battle at Lake Changjin was the biggest single-territory grosser of 2021 earning $905 million in China alone to fall just under the $937 million domestic gross of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Barring a surge today, it might need a weekday or two to get past $400 million. Early projections argue for a more frontloaded gross and a “mere” over/under $650 million cume, but Battle at Lake Changjin dropped hard in weekend two and then recovered for a leggy run. The sequel is akin to Quantum of Solace after Casino Royale, in that it’s the second act of a long play that’s shorter, swifter and is almost entirely non-stop action after a more conventionally paced act one. It’s probably the most “just action” flick I’ve seen since The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. 

The other question is whether the action-comedy thriller Too Cool to Kill (opening stateside on February 18 courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment) can perform akin to Detective Chinatown 2 (which topped Monster Hunt 2’s $353 million gross to earn $575 million in 2018) and Hi, Mom (which soared past Detective Chinatown 3’s $685 million gross to earn $835 million in 2021) and surpass the presumed New Year’s box office champion. The other big question going forward is whether anything on the Hollywood release slate can get anywhere near wherever Too Cool to Kill and Battle at Lake Changjin II end up. With boffo grosses like this, China has that much less of a need for Hollywood imports. It’s also reassuring that Spider-Man: No Way Home and Venom: Let There Be Carnage don’t need China to reach blockbuster status.  

Speaking of which, Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $2.075 million (-24%) on its eighth Friday for a likely $9.1 million (-18%) weekend and $748 million domestic cume. That’ll be pennies away from the initial domestic cume ($749 million not counting the summer 2010 reissue of James Cameron’s Avatar. However, with legs like this, reaching Avatar’s $760 million final domestic gross won’t be an issue. Sony and Marvel’s Tom Holland/Zendaya superhero sequel should be at around $1.77 billion worldwide by tomorrow as it races toward a $1.8 billion global cume. Sure, it might have passed $2 billion with China and/or in a non-Covid circumstance, but I’m inclined to argue that it earned more here and now as the super-duper mega-Christmas biggie with almost no competition than it would have opening amid a crowded summer 2021 slate as initially intended.  

Paramount and Spyglass’ Scream earned another $1.17 million (-43%) on Friday for a likely $4.46 million (-38%) weekend and $68.67 million 24-day cume. That’s a solid hold, especially with another R-rated youth-skewing Paramount release in the marketplace. It might end up closer to $80 million than $$75 million. Either way, it’ll likely end with well over five times its $24 million budget, meaning the just-greenlit sequel isn’t a bluff or a false declaration of success. Universal and Illumination’s Sing 2 earned $810,000 (-22%) on Friday for a likely $4 million (14%) weekend and $139.4 million cume. That’s a solid result for an $85 million sequel that’s racing toward $300 million worldwide and allegedly doing quite well on PVOD. It won’t quite top The Secret Life of Pets 2 ($158 million in summer 2019), but it’ll get darn close.