For 2D films, huge drops should be expected. For Panda and Pirates, there are still some rooms to hide with 3D. The movie is to celebrate Communist Party's 90 years of existence and have created an ensemble of almost all possible Chinese film stars, just like Founding of the Republic a couple of years ago, so you could be sure the propaganda engine will run at its fullest. Also don't read too much into the numbers when it comes out. Few still cares about communist part at this point, but state-owned enterprises will pay for the tickets and organize the workers to see it as groups, so the numbers will be artificially boosted and could be whatever they say.

China is getting The Smurfs. August 10 release date.

Is China getting X-men:First Class?

Somehow, I doubt it with all the communist storyline in the movie.

I have no idea.

Wu Xia moved up to July 4 from August 3. Transformers 3 moves to July 21. No word on Harry Potter's release date.

Unlikely for X-Men. And probably no for Super 8 as well.

Smurf is a given considering its popularity in China. In some aspect it's similar to Transformers, as many of us grew up watching the show and regard it as our favorite.

Both Cars 2 and Harry Potter are scheduled for August, but no set date yet.

So how did Beginning of The Great Revival do this week.

So THR says $77m for KFP2 and it was at almost $72m last week, which would mean a mighty drop for KFP2, same for Pirates it started with almost $67m and estimates say its total reached $69.5m

Did break 100m yuan over the first five days (opened on Wed), but not as good as The Founding of a Republic, so 800m yuan is a pipe dream.

Mtime said 59m yuan for Panda and 28m yuan for Pirates, which are much better if true. Will see the actuals later today.

So will that extend runs of Panda and Pirates. I guess there is no major competition till TF3 opens in july. but that's another 4 weeks later.

Is Wu Xia going to have the full backing of the Chinese government when it comes out or are they going to keep Beginning of the Great Revival in most theaters?

Yeah, I think they'll still be around for a little bit, in particular Panda.

Certainly not to the same degree as Great Revival, but we'll see how it performs.

So final actuals:

Beginning of the Great Revival - 110m yuan
Kung Fu Panda 2 - 59m yuan
Pirates 4 - 28m yuan
Fast Five - 16m yuan
Skyline - 8.5m yuan

Fast Five is pretty insane, especially considering it's not 3D and faced direct screen competition from Great Revival.

So I guess that would be $80m USD total for Panda...will it have enough legs to reach $100m million ?

06/13 - 06/19:

1. Beginning of the Great Revival（建党伟业）- 110m ($17.00m) New 76,706 3,053,011 110m ($17.00m)
2. Kung Fu Panda 2（功夫熊猫2）- 59m ($9.12m) -53.5% 55,457 1,531,671 524.5m ($80.94m)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides（加勒比海盗4）- 28m ($4.33m) -52.5% 28,176 759,219 462m ($71.21m)
4. Fast Five（速度与激情5）- 16m ($2.47m) -38.5% 15,770 489,596 249m ($38.36m)
5. Skyline（天际浩劫）- 8.5m ($1.31m) -64.6% 15,474 274,547 49.2m ($6.28m)
6. Na igre 2（超能游戏者）- 4.3m ($0.66m) -30.6% 12,235 149,150 10.5m ($1.62m)
7. Love Finally（男得有爱）- 2.3m ($0.36m) New 6,182 79,778 2.3m ($0.36m)
8. No. 32, B District（B区32号）- 1.4m ($0.22m) -77.4% 4,309 47,619 14.1m ($2.18m)

Look like Harry Potter's date is set: 08/04.

WOW. Harry Potter only has 6 days all to itself then Smurfs takes over.

Beginning of the Great Revival had another 110m+ yuan week to pass 200m yuan total. Should reach 400m and possibly pass The Founding of a Republic's total, but not much more.

The early estimate put Panda 2's week at 47.5m yuan for a 572m sum. 600m yuan is certain now, and $100m is actually still in play.

7.5m yuan for Pirates 4 and 4m for Fast Five.

And is Smurf's meant to be a threat?

It's China. They can do anything they want with screen allocations...+ it's in 3D.

It should be very popular in China and will compete for the 3D screens.

Are there any more big Chinese blockbusters coming up. Beginning of the Revival had a huge opening weekend, straight into the Top 10 and on par with Shaolin. This time of year and the holiday season seems to throw in a couple here or there.

Opening Weekends in China are the strongest out of all international markets. Too bad movies suffer a quick death.

Wu Xia is one with Donnie Yen and will be released on July 4th, not much else for the summer.