China Box Office: ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ Retains Crown as ‘Once Upon a Time in the Middle East,’ ‘The Odyssey’ Surge in Previews
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- Spider-Man: Brand New Day retained #1 at mainland China's box office for the Aug. 7–9 weekend with $28.9M (RMB196.6M), lifting its cumulative since July 29 to $185.4M.
- All Wishes Come True! held second with $20.4M in its fourth weekend, pushing Pearl Studio's animated fantasy to $210.6M cumulative since its July 18 release.
- Once Upon a Time in the Middle East surged to third with $15M from preview screenings ahead of its Aug. 11 nationwide debut; Wen Muye directs and Shen Teng stars as a chef whose Middle East restaurant venture is upended by armed conflict.
- Enlight Pictures' To Your Island opened in fourth with $7.9M in its premiere weekend, while Universal's The Odyssey entered the top five with $6.9M from previews ($7.6M overall) ahead of wide release.
- Mainland China's overall weekend grosses hit $97.3M, and 2026 year-to-date revenue stands at $3.57 billion — down 31.8% from the same period in 2025.
Why it matters: China's theatrical market is in steep contraction: 2026 year-to-date revenue is down 31.8% versus 2025 even as Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day holds the top spot with $28.9M and Universal's The Odyssey builds pre-release momentum, putting both studios and local players in competition for a shrinking box office.
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