'Dear You' Tops China Box Office as 2026 Revenue Falls 45.9%
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- Dear You (Jinant Film & TV) retained #1 with RMB 282 million ($41.5 million), lifting its cumulative to $75 million; directed by Lan Hongchun and starring Li Sitong and Wang Yantong, the film follows a Chaoshan grandmother's half-century hidden love affair uncovered through her grandson's search in Thailand.
- Vanishing Point (Zhonghe Qiancheng) held #2 with $5.7 million, bringing its cumulative to $60.9 million; the suspense thriller adapts the novel "Sea Anemone" and centers on a child's mysterious disappearance on the winter solstice.
- Cold War 1994 (Edko Films) secured #3 with $2.3 million, pushing its cumulative to $40.4 million; the Hong Kong police prequel directed by Longman Leung stars Daniel Wu and Terrance Lau in a story of pre-handover power struggles and corruption.
- The Sheep Detectives (Amazon MGM Studios) debuted at #4 with $1.6 million in a two-day opening weekend.
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 rounded out the top five with $600,000, bringing its cumulative to $14.3 million.
- Mainland China's overall weekend gross reached $55.3 million, with 2026 year-to-date revenue at $2.13 billion—down 45.9% from the same period in 2025.
Why it matters: The 2026 China box office is running 45.9% behind 2025 through mid-May, with this weekend's $55.3 million total underscoring the steep slump. "Dear You" and "Vanishing Point" together generated roughly 85% of the top-five gross ($47.2 million of $55.3 million), showing just how concentrated the market is in one or two domestic hits while foreign titles like "The Sheep Detectives" and "The Devil Wears Prada 2" open small.
