Stephen Chow’s return to the football comedy continues at just the right time in its second weekend at the Chinese box office. Kung Fu FootballComedy legend Shaolin Football The Spinoff added $73.7 million (RMB 501.1 million) during the July 17-19 period, bringing its total to $214.3 million (RMB 1.46 billion) in just nine days, according to data from Artisan Gateway.
In a market where second weekends routinely lose half of their opening business, the film instead surpassed its two-day opening frame with $73.6 million (RMB 500.3 million), albeit spread over three days this time. After topping $147 million (CNY 1 billion) in its first week, the film prompted ticket giant Maoyan to raise its full-run forecast to $441 million (CNY 3 billion), up from the CNY 2.5 billion expected for its opening weekend. The film seems likely to finish just short of Chow’s personal box office record of 3.39 billion yuan (more than $500 million), set by the fantasy comedy. mermaid In 2016.
Chow, 64, wrote and directed Kung Fu Football – His first feature behind the camera since 2019 The new king of comedy – But he does not appear on screen, after he moved away from acting after 2008 CJ7. It was released on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Shaolin FootballTo beat this summer’s FIFA World Cup fever, the film recasts the premise of the beloved original about an all-female underdog team whose players incorporate martial arts into their game to make an unlikely run in a tournament dubbed the Invincible Supreme Cup. Zhang Xiao Fei (Hello mom) leads the cast as the team’s captain, with Dilraba Dilmurat as the star striker and Lai Chang as the kung fu instructor, plus guest stars from Hong Kong screen icon Karina Lau, Japanese star Takeru Satoh and American comedian Jimmy Au Yang.
Chow’s unique blockbuster versatility was proven – once again – by the way he released the film with little to no traditional marketing campaign. He set the release date via an unofficial social media video on his birthday in late June, and the film hit theaters less than three weeks later with minimal advance marketing.
A North American theatrical release is expected later this year but a date remains undetermined. Singaporean company Encore Films, which handled the international publishing of the record-setting anime in China Ni Cha 2 Last year, it acquired global rights to Kung Fu Football Outside the mainland, it does regional-by-regional deals.
Kung Fu Football She faced significantly tougher competition in her second weekend compared to her first in the format All wishes come truean animated prop from state-backed Pearl Studio, the Beijing company formerly known as Oriental DreamWorks, whose credits include Kung Fu Panda 3, hateful And nominated for an Oscar Over the moon. Written and directed by Mu Zhengyang, this comic fantasy reimagines the classic folktale of the Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea, and follows a group of ordinary individuals who best the gods to gain their legendary titles. It opened on Saturday and grossed $30.6 million (CNY 207.8 million) over two days — a strong start — for an early total of $39.6 million (CNY 269 million) including previews. Pearl and partner CMC Pictures have scheduled a global rollout starting August 13 in Australia and New Zealand, followed by the US, Canada, UK and other markets starting August 14.
The rest of the weekend’s headlines trailed the two leading films by a distance. “Enlighten the pictures” Part of mea tear-jerking thriller about female friendship starring Zhang Ronan and Jin Jing – a remake of the 2015 Toni Collette-Drew Barrymore drama I miss you already – It opened third place with $13.6 million (92.4 million Chinese yuan). Global and lighting Minions and monsters It finished fourth in its third frame with $3.7 million (CNY 25.1 million), bringing its total income in China to $40.3 million (CNY 274 million). and triangleDirector Christopher Smith’s 2009 suspense thriller starring Melissa George – a favorite among Chinese cinema fans – ranked fifth with $3.7 million (RMB 25 million) after arriving in mainland theaters on Friday, 17 years after its original release.
China’s 2026 box office now stands at $2.97 billion, down 35.3 percent from the same point last year — a comparison skewed by the animated blockbuster. Ni Cha 2which earned more than $2 billion in China alone during the first half of 2025. However, the gap narrowed significantly from a deficit of about 56% in early March, as Chow’s successful return gave the country’s summer movie season a healthy start.
The Horror Phenomenon by Carrie Parker maniawhich has grossed more than $400 million worldwide since its debut in mid-May, will open in the country on Friday. The film will be an interesting test of whether the wave of young, Internet-bred directors sweeping Hollywood can help revive the fortunes of studios in China, where moviegoers have long grown weary of American franchises.
