What Happens If There’s 11 Animated Films In Theaters At The Same Time? China Just Found Out.

Animation was on the menu for China’s National Day, a weeklong holiday that runs from Oct. 1-7. Government officials loaded Chinese cineplexes with animated features during this traditionally heavy moviegoing frame. Including animation that was already playing in theaters, there were no less than 11 animated features from which audiences could choose.

The give-em-more-animation-than-they-can-handle strategy didn’t pay off though. Just two of the animated films grossed more than $1 million.

The sole success story was the Dreamworks Animation and Pearl Studio production, Abominable, which opened in fourth place. In Chinese theaters since October 1, Abominable has grossed $11.7 million through its first six days. It isn’t shaping up as a Ne Zha-level blockbuster, but it is outperforming the typical Chinese feature. With a reported $75 million production budget though, Abominable is also far more expensive than the typical Chinese animated feature, and considering that it was designed specifically for Chinese audiences, its performance in its home territory could be viewed as somewhat underwhelming.

The other high-earning animated features were all films that have already been in theaters for weeks: Ne Zha, which remains in theaters after two-and-a-half months, was the second-highest grossing animation entry of the weekend, grossing $1.5 million. Its record-busting total in China is now $722.9 million. The homegrown 2d film inspired by a web series, The Legend of Hei, added around half-a-million to its total, which stands at $45.3 million. The Japanese film Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire added less than half-a-million to its China tally, which is $33.6 million.

STX Entertainment’s Uglydolls finally opened in China and it did poorly. Full weekend numbers are not available, but the film grossed less than $100,000 in its first day in theaters.

Another bizarre release was Yi Animation’s Kung Food, which had previously opened in Chinese theaters more than a year ago. The film did so poorly upon its initial debut that its distributor pulled the film from theaters and promised to rework it. It’s unclear whether this re-release was different from the original cut, but regardless, it performed weakly again.

Other animated films in Chinese theaters, both new and existing releases, included Lighting Dindin 2: You Don’t Mess with Little Bugs, Kiangnan 1894, Sharp the Bull, My Tyrano, and Crazy and Dream City. Like Uglydolls and Kung Food, none of them even got close to the million dollar mark.

You can see the trailers for Lighting Dindin, Kiangnan 1894, and My Tyrano below:

Pictured at top: “Abominable” (left) and “The Legend of Hei.”