No idea about the English titles. But the Chinese titles for the movie are also different: Casino Storm (in Hong Kong) vs. Macau Storm (in China). Casino is associated with gambling so the word probably wouldn't pass the Chinese censor.

Cue Bluebomb: #politicsalert

	Monday adm.			February 15
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	% chg
1	The Mermaid	25,563	13,210	-48.3%
2	Deadpool	30,019	12,328	-58.9%
3	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	--	3,665	--
4	How to Be Single	498	2,692	+440.6%
5	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	--	2,250	--
6	Spotlight	--	1,231	--
7	From Vegas to Macau 3	7,506	1,133	-84.9%
8	The Hateful Eight	--	996	--
9	The Good Dinosaur	9,660	970	-90.0%
10	The Monkey King 2	3,898	842	-78.4%

Excellent hold for The Mermaid. I am a bit surprised it won today. It led for most of the day. It being the highest grossing movie in China might have had a slight effect here. Also very good for Deadpool.

Deadpool had direct competition from the Benghazi movie and The Hateful Eight while The Mermaid had family audiences all to itself. None of the new releases appealed to kids or families.

Did you really just try to pawn off saying 13 Hours and The Hateful Eight are direct competition toward Deadpool? The Hateful Eight is a western drama and 13 Hours is a B-movie. Gods of Egypt is more direct competition to Deadpool than that Michael Bay movie. Besides that, 13 Hours opening had little effect on Deadpool last weekend as Deadpool held quite well for a release the week after CNY. The Mermaid had more competition coming from the combo of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 and How to Be Single as they directly target the Chinese language and the rom-com market.

	Tuesday adm.				February 16
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	Deadpool	28,679	13,732	-52.1%	+11.4%
2	The Mermaid	25,494	12,759	-50.0%	-3.4%
3	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	--	4,388	--	+19.7%
4	How to Be Single	437	3,219	+636.6%	+19.6%
5	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	--	2,175	--	-3.3%
6	Spotlight	--	1,504	--	+22.2%
7	The Hateful Eight	--	1,265	--	+27.0%
8	From Vegas to Macau 3	6,739	1,034	-84.7%	-8.7%
9	The Good Dinosaur	8,924	974	-89.1%	+0.4%
10	Carol	1,814	855	-52.9%	--

Well, it seems like everything's back to normal. Solid holds for Deadpool and The Mermaid. I believe The Mermaid can drop less than 50% this weekend if it keeps this up. 13 Hours and How to Be Single both had nice increases. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 had a pretty weak Tuesday. All 3 Chinese language films in the top 10 fell on Tuesday perhaps drilling home that weaker holds are to be expected shortly. Spotlight/The Hateful Eight saw very good bumps. These two should play very well into next week.

13 Hours and The Hateful Eight obviously provide direct competition to Deadpool in HK: adult, male, action (in Benghazi), and "heavy taste" (in Tarantino). Deadpool is exactly the kind of popcorn entertainment Michael Bay fans love. The "subversive" humor in Deadpool is the kind that a Tarantino fan would want to see. Crouching Tiger 2 appeals to older male, action fans. How to Be Single appeals to middle-class women, date crowds. The Mermaid appeals to kids and families which none of the above movies target.

From Vegas to Macau 3 has two things to brag about.

1. A quarter of its box office receipt on Sunday was from a group booking by a Chinese brokerage firm. This happened when the film was fading fast. A little unexpected for a Lunar New Year film to receive this kind of support this late into its run. This should help boost its faltering box office a bit.

2. The movie has received a 1.1 rating at IMDB and it is a record low. It should soon enter the bottom 100 of the website. This is a perfect New Year present for director Wong Jing from IMDB users.

Monday was the 15th day of the New Year, the first full-moon of the year. It was Chinese Valentine's. Lovers, families gather for dinner and movies. Most Chinese language films (especially The Mermaid) benefited from that Sunday and Monday. And that explained the Tuesday drops too.

So the Chinese celebrate two Valentine's days?

In Hong Kong, yes. It is called "Yuen Xiu" Festival, or Lantern Festival (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival). But the day is not a public holiday.

Oh I have heard of the Lantern Festival never knew that it was just after CNY. Thanks

Sometimes it is confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival in late September, also known as the Lantern Festival in Singapore or the Mooncake Festival. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival)

Yep the one is Singapore is just a fad its more of Mooncake Festival here. I knew there was a separate Lantern Festival in China. Since you mentioned this one is only in HK is there a separate one in Mainland China?

Yes.

13 Hours is a niche action movie: a military movie that won't seek the mainstream crowd. Similar story with The Hateful Eight: niche western drama that does not appeal to the mainstream crowd. How to Be Single, mainstream rom com which targets The Mermaid's rom-com audience + Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2, mainstream action movie which targets moviegoers and theaters that like to watch/showcase all Chinese language films.

Schedules for Thursday

Deadpool and The Mermaid continue to lead in most theaters. The Finest Hours and Zoolander 2 are generally behind. The Finest Hours will show in more than 30 theaters including IMAX (very wide) while Zoolander 2 premieres wide with 28. The Danish Girl/Creed are both going semi-wide with 14 or 15 theaters. PG Love goes wide with 22 theaters.

	Thursday adm.	(so far)		February 25
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	% chg
1	The Finest Hours	--	4,420	--
2	The Danish Girl	--	2,730	--
3	The Mermaid	3,902	2,001	-48.7%
4	Deadpool	6,055	1,880	-69.0%
5	Zoolander 2	--	955	--
6	PG Love	--	541	--
7	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	--	430	--
8	The Secret	--	395	--
9	How to Be Single	855	383	-55.2%
10	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	1,245	377	-69.7%

Pretty boring admissions over all. The Finest Hours might be super inflated from IMAX and perhaps D-BOX. Very good for The Danish Girl despite opening semi-wide. Good hold for The Mermaid. Deadpool's drop might be inflated from the loss of IMAX this week. Zoolander 2 is a disaster.

Actuals (up to Wednesday)
Ip Man 3 - $60,221,393 ($7,743,795)
Deadpool - $49,414,472 ($6,354,146)

Deadpool officially passes Lust, Caution as the biggest Category III release of all time. Ip Man 3 is $500,000 HK away from Shaolin Soccer's gross ($60,739,847).

	Thursday			February 25
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	% chg
1	The Finest Hours	--	10,910	--
2	The Mermaid	16,294	8,591	-47.3%
3	Deadpool	19,913	8,272	-58.5%
4	The Danish Girl	--	5,565	--
5	Zoolander 2	--	3,773	--
6	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	5,187	1,643	-68.3%
7	The Secret	--	1,178	--
8	How to Be Single	3,304	1,101	-66.7%
9	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	--	1,051	--
10	Creed	--	931	--

Meh for The Finest Hours. Opening day score sits at a mixed 3.6. Very good hold for The Mermaid. Good for Deadpool. Strong for The Danish Girl. Opening day reviews are extremely positive with a grand 4.7/5. Rough start for Zoolander 2. It is getting bashed by users. It only has a 2.4/5 score. Weak holds for 13 Hours and How to Be Single. Not good for The Secret but opening day score is a very good 4.1/5. Not good for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2. Terrible for Creed but its opening day score stands at a nice 4.2/5.

	Friday adm.	(so far)			February 26
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Finest Hours	--	5,236	--	+18.5%
2	The Danish Girl	--	3,908	--	+43.2%
3	The Mermaid	6,217	3,188	-48.7%	+59.3%
4	Deadpool	9,377	3,063	-67.3%	+62.9%
5	Zoolander 2	--	1,557	--	+63.0%
6	How to Be Single	1,563	770	-50.7%	+101.0%
7	The Secret	--	567	--	+43.5%
8	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	1,497	530	-64.6%	+40.6%
9	PG Love	--	397	--	-26.6%
10	The Hateful Eight	717	396	-44.8%	--

Weak increase for The Finest Hours. This could fall from yesterday's admissions. Very good increase for The Danish Girl. A few theaters will add this to their schedule on Saturday. Solid for The Mermaid. Not good for Deadpool. It will need to prove itself once again. Good increase for Zoolander 2. Let's see if the negative word of mouth will scare off walk-ins today. Great jump for How to Be Single.

		Thursday Actuals						February 25
LW	TW	Movie	Last Thu. (USD)	Thu. (USD)	% chg	Theaters	Days	Total
--	1	The Finest Hours	--	$102,871	--	--	1	$102,871
1	2	Deadpool	$225,211	$96,441	-57.2%	--	17	$6,450,587
2	3	The Mermaid	$178,511	$92,583	-48.1%	--	18	$5,979,378
--	4	The Danish Girl	--	$57,864	--	--	1	$57,864
--	5	Zoolander 2	--	$41,534	--	--	1	$41,534
3	6	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	$64,079	$20,317	-68.3%	--	8	$514,355

More Thursday Actuals
How to Be Single - $11,830 (-66%)/$385,766
The Secret - $11,572
Creed - $10,287
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2 - $257,177

Different story was painted once reliable numbers came in. Deadpool was #1 in admissions (9,500 for the day) and was just a bit over $5,000 behind The Finest Hours despite 25% of FH's showtimes in 3D. The Mermaid and Deadpool came in with identical admissions per showing, 47, and The Mermaid almost came in 2nd in admissions with 8,500 (vs. 8,600 for The Finest Hours). Deadpool should be able to pass 7m by Sunday. The Mermaid is aiming for about 6.4-6.6m.

For openers, The Danish Girl wowed with an average of 91 per showing. It will make more than $400,000 this weekend and could challenge $500,000 with less than 20 theaters showing. Zoolander 2 had about 2/3 of showings as Deadpool/The Mermaid but came up with less than half of their grosses. Average admissions per showing was at a low 32. It won't make $300,000 this weekend.

		Weekly Gross (Mon-Sun)							Feb 15-21
LW	TW	Title	Last Week (HKD)	This Week (HKD)	Days in release	% chg	Total (HKD)	This Week (USD)	Total (USD)
1	1	Deadpool	$28,930,446	$17,300,575	13	-40.2%	$46,231,021	$2,223,464	$5,941,595
2	2	Mermaid	$27,483,541	$14,692,403	14	-46.5%	$42,853,145	$1,888,262	$5,507,472
4	3	The Good Dinosaur	$15,418,548	$3,428,891	18	-77.8%	$24,683,756	$440,679	$3,172,348
--	4	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	--	$2,826,571	4	--	$2,826,571	$363,269	$363,269
3	5	From Vegas to Macau III	$16,378,712	$2,682,675	16	-83.6%	$24,564,143	$344,776	$3,156,975
--	6	How to Be Single	$329,736	$1,929,436	4	+485.1%	$2,259,172	$247,970	$290,348
5	7	The Monkey King 2	$10,383,134	$1,865,471	16	-82.0%	$15,375,732	$239,749	$1,976,084
--	8	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	$154,184	$1,259,768	3	+717.1%	$1,413,952	$161,904	$181,720
6	9	Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip	$5,628,257	$1,246,583	18	-77.9%	$8,976,111	$160,210	$1,153,606
7	10	Carol	$1,436,813	$823,265	18	-42.7%	$2,695,885	$105,805	$346,474

This confirms that Deadpool made the top 50 last week ahead of Thunderbolt in only 2 weeks. The Mermaid was right behind and only 3.5m HK away from making the top 50 all time as well. Both of them had the best holds of any wide release. The Good Dinosaur passed From Vegas to Macau 3 on Sunday although both did not have great holds while 13 Hours posted a decent opening. From Vegas to Macau 3 won't surpass the 2nd's total. Not that great for How to Be Single. The Monkey King 2 passed 2m this week but won't come close to TMK's total. Poor opening for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2.

	Friday				February 26
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Finest Hours	--	12,446	--	+14.1%
2	The Mermaid	18,099	11,597	-35.9%	+35.0%
3	Deadpool	22,833	10,713	-53.1%	+29.5%
4	The Danish Girl	--	6,932	--	+24.6%
5	Zoolander 2	--	4,469	--	+18.4%
6	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	5,558	2,440	-56.1%	+48.5%
7	How to Be Single	4,259	1,832	-57.0%	+55.5%
8	The Secret	--	1,487	--	+26.2%
9	Creed	--	1,080	--	+2.8%
10	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	2,765	843	-69.5%	-19.8%

Good recovery for The Finest Hours from pre-sales but not a good increase overall. Great hold for The Mermaid. It and Deadpool were neck and neck on Friday in gross. On Friday, it passed 6m and it is gearing up to enter the top 10 local films of all time by Saturday. Deadpool, meanwhile, had a good hold and will pass Ant-Man and X-Men: Days of Future Past today. By Sunday or Monday, this will officially join the top 30 films of all time. Solid increase for The Danish Girl. There's going to be an explosion in admissions and gross on Saturday when more theaters join in on its success. Not good for Zoolander 2. It will be left behind this weekend and might only barely make over $200,000.

I look at the demographics. The Mermaid is only film in wide release catering to kids and families. None of the openers share the same demo group. It is comparable to Kung Fu Panda 3 in North America. KFP3 had the best hold this and last weeks with near zero competitions. On the other hand, 13 Hours and The Hateful Eight's "niche" audiences have a lot in common in age and gender with those targeted by Deadpool.

The Lantern Festival (the 15th day of the Lunar Calendar) is usually considered the end of the Lunar New Year celebration. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, it is also a day equivalent to the Valentine's Day. It is not a "big" day but it is fairly well-known. Mainland China uses the same calendar.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is totally something else.

2/26 Saturday 12pm HKT:

The Danish Girl is currently No. 1 in admission with 11,300. The number of showtimes doubled to 120 over Thursday.

So DP will not be #1 this weekend then right?

Nope.

	Saturday adm.	(so far)			February 27
Rank	Movie	LW	TW	WKD % chg	QD % chg
1	The Danish Girl	--	8,935	--	+128.6%
2	The Finest Hours	--	8,080	--	+54.3%
3	Deadpool	14,400	5,510	-61.7%	+79.9%
4	The Mermaid	10,953	5,416	-50.6%	+69.9%
5	Zoolander 2	--	1,932	--	+24.1%
6	The Good Dinosaur	3,018	1,131	-62.5%	--
7	13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi	2,168	970	-55.3%	+83.0%
8	How to Be Single	2,080	960	-53.8%	+24.7%
9	The Secret	--	809	--	+42.7%
10	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	1,507	740	-50.9%	--

Amazing for The Danish Girl. It added 5 theaters today. Ok for The Finest Hours. Mediocre hold for Deadpool. Solid for The Mermaid.

Danish Girl is surprisingly do very well. Any specific reason for its success other than reception? It did have good reviews here in Singapore as well but it never caught on with moviegoers.

I think the movie has characters most people can empathize with. A straight forward tearjerker. Also, it is considered Redmayne's step-up performance from The Theory of Everything.