China’s Hit Animation Franchise ‘Boonie Bears’ Delivers $61 Million Opening
Boonie Bears: Time Twist, a new feature from the powerhouse Chinese film and tv franchise Boonie Bears, was released over the Lunar New Year holiday and grossed Usd$60.8 million (according to Comscore, although other source like Deadline report an even higher figure, $61.6m.)
That was good for third place overall at the global box office, a tremendous feat considering that Boonie Bears was only available in one country. Or to put it another way, the entire weekend box office total for every film in the United States last weekend was around $40 million.
Boonie Bears is one of the most profitable animated franchises of all time. In theatrical terms alone, the 10 films released over the past decade have grossed more than $885 million, and while they screen in many countries, the bulk of that figure comes from China. Per Deadline, this latest film is forecast to gross around $320 million, which would make Boonie Bears a one-billion-dollar theatrical franchise.
The Lunar New Year proved massive for Chinese films in general, which took five spots in the global top 10 over the frame and the top four spots overall. (Two live-action films debuted higher than even Boonie Bears in China.)
Universal’s Migration was the only other animated film to figure in the weekend’s global top 10, grossing $9.7 million from 80 territories. The Illumination-produced film has now grossed $235.2 million globally, with $110.1m of that figure coming from the United States.
Disney put its second Covid-era Pixar film, Turning Red, in theaters over the weekend, but it fared only slightly better than Soul did back in January. Turning Red made $535,000 from 1,560 theaters for a $342 per-theater average. When Soul came out over the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend, it grossed $431,840 over its first three days from 1,350 theaters.
Luca will be the third Pixar film to receive a theatrical release this year when it hits theaters on March 22. It will go up against the third weekend of Universal-Dreamworks’ Kung Fu Panda 4.
