May 26--"Avengers: Age of Ultron" soared past the $200-million mark in China last week, but box office records appear to be out of reach for the Marvel superhero film.
The movie earned $53.4 million for the week, bringing its cumulative gross to $208 milllion, according to data from industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway. The movie accounted for 71% of all ticket sales in the seven days ending Sunday. But it clearly will not challenge the performance of "Furious 7," which raced to more than $390 million at the mainland box office earlier this spring.
"Avengers" earned 10 times the amount of the No. 2 movie at the mainland box office last week, the Indian import "PK," starring Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan. Nevertheless, the film is India's all-time box office champ, and even with its $5.1 million debut on the mainland, it can now call itself the best-performing Indian film ever in China. The plot revolves around an alien (Khan) who comes to Earth on a research trip, befriends a journalist and questions religious beliefs and superstitions.
In third place for the week was "Love Without Distance," a romantic comedy directed by Aubrey Lam about nouveau riche Chinese, which earned $3.1 million. It was followed by Sony Pictures' sci-fi pic "Chappie," which added another $2.6 million to its take for a cumulative gross of $16.4 million, Artisan said.
Rounding out the top five was the local holdover "The Beloved," a romance directed by Cao Dawei, which has earned $3 million to date.
