U.S.-China co-production “Abominable” tops North American box office in opening weekend
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) — A U.S-China co-production, “Abominable,” dominated the box office in North America in its opening weekend, collecting a solid 20.85 million U.S. dollars during the first three days of release.
It’s the biggest opening for an original animated movie in North America so far this year.
The animated family film is the co-production between the California-based DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, and the Shanghai-based Pearl Studios, formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks.
“Abominable” has been released worldwide by Universal Pictures, but in China it will be solely distributed by Pearl Studios and is set to open on Oct. 1.
Written and directed by Jill Culton and co-directed by Todd Wilderman, the film stars the voices of Chloe Bennet, Albert Tsai, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Eddie Izzard, Sarah Paulson, Tsai Chin and Michelle Wong.
The animated adventure, with a reported 75 million dollars budget, follows a Chinese teenage girl who encounters a Yeti on the rooftop of her Shanghai apartment building and embarks on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth, the majestic Himalayas.
Universal Pictures has partnered with the audio tech company TheaterEars to offer a Mandarin-language version of “Abominable” for Chinese-speaking moviegoers. By using the TheaterEars app, users will be able to listen to a Mandarin audio track at any of the over 4,000 U.S. theaters showing the film, according to an earlier report by American entertainment news outlet Variety.
It’s the first time that a nationally released Hollywood movie has offered a Chinese audio option in the United States, said the Variety.
The film received a generally positive “A” rating from moviegoers on CinemaScore and an 80-percent certified fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes to date.
“Abominable” has grossed 30.5 million dollars worldwide this weekend, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.
Focus Features and Carnival Films’ “Downton Abbey” brought in 14.5 million dollars in its second weekend, pushing its North American cume to 58.5 million dollars through Sunday for a global total of 107.1 million dollars.
Directed by Michael Engler and starring the original cast, the film is a big screen adaptation of the British historical period drama television series of the same name. The film follows the lives of the Crawley family and their intrepid staff preparing for the most important moment of their lives. A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that will leave the future of Downton hanging in the balance.
STX’s crime drama film “Hustlers” came in third with 11.47 million dollars in its third weekend for a North American cume of 80.63 million dollars. Inspired by New York Magazine’s 2015 article “The Hustlers at Scores” and directed by Lorene Scafaria, the film follows a crew of savvy former strip club employees who band together to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients.
Warner Bros. and New Line’s horror film “It: Chapter Two” landed in fourth with 10.4 million dollars in its fourth weekend. The film directed by Andy Muschietti is the sequel to the 2017’s “It,” based on the novel of the same name by American best-selling writer Stephen King.
Disney’s release of Fox’s sci-fi film “Ad Astra” finished fifth with 10.14 million dollars in its second weekend. Directed by James Gray and starring Brad Pitt, the plot follows an astronaut who goes into space to uncover the truth about his missing father and his doomed expedition that now, 30 years later, threatens the universe.
This article was first published here.