Sony Pictures’ blockbuster Spider-Man: Brand New Day
retained the number one position at the mainland China box office during the Aug. 7–9 weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The superhero tentpole pulled in $28.9 million (RMB 196.6 million) during its second full frame, bringing its local cumulative total to $185.4 million (RMB 1.26 billion) in 12 days.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Defends Chinese Box Office Lead
The film’s performance in China follows a massive $121.3 million five-day opening haul, which included $19 million from IMAX screens—setting a record for the format in the market. Industry trackers noted that the movie is on the verge of surpassing the $199 million earned by 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home,
which previously stood as the last U.S. superhero release to clear $100 million in China.
Strong Holding Power for Local Animated Features
Pearl Studio’s animated fantasy feature All Wishes Come True!
maintained its strong summer run to take second place, pulling in $20.4 million (RMB 138.8 million) in its fourth weekend. Directed by Mu Zhengyang and reimagining the classic folk tale of the Eight Immortals, the local hit pushed its total cumulative box office to $210.6 million (RMB 1.43 billion), marking China’s biggest performance by an animated feature for the year.
Meanwhile, Enlight Pictures’ specialty arm Enlight Animation launched its first in-house produced film, the animated fantasy romance To Your Island,
in fourth position. Directed by Zhou Haoran and adapted from Fan Dawang’s popular web novel, the romance-tinged coming-of-age story generated $7.9 million (RMB 53.6 million) over its three-day premiere weekend.
Preview Screenings and Upcoming Wide Releases
Several titles made significant impacts through preview screenings ahead of their official theatrical debuts. Dirty Monkeys and Damai Entertainment’s war comedy Once Upon a Time in the Middle East
surged into third place with $15 million (RMB 101.8 million) from two days of preview screenings. Directed by Wen Muye and produced by Ning Hao’s Dirty Monkeys Studio, the film stars Shen Teng as Xu Fu, a chef who moves to the Middle East and opens the Dragon Restaurant with floor manager Ma Junsheng (played by Jiang Qiming) before armed conflict upends their lives. The feature was scheduled for an official nationwide theatrical debut on Aug. 11.
Universal Pictures’ The Odyssey
also entered the top five ahead of its wide launch, collecting $6.9 million (RMB 46.8 million) from weekend previews played exclusively on IMAX and CINITY screens to reach $7.6 million overall. Despite playing on only a tiny sliver of the nation’s screens, the 177-minute epic captured roughly 7 percent of the entire weekend’s business. Earlier four-city previews on Aug. 1-2 drew a 95.2 percent occupancy rate, described by local media reports citing Dengta as an all-time high for the market.
Broader Box Office Context in China
Mainland China’s overall weekend grosses reached $97.3 million, down about a quarter from the previous frame. The country’s total 2026 box office revenue stands at $3.57 billion, which is down 31.8% from the same period in 2025. Industry observers noted that this year-over-year comparison is heavily distorted by Ne Zha 2,
which alone took more than $2 billion in the market during the first half of 2025.
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