Much has been made about the resurgence of Hollywood blockbusters at the box office, and rightly so. Venom: Let There Be Carnage became the first release since 2019 to open at $90 million or above, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings crossed $200 million domestic and $400 million worldwide in short order, while No Time to Die sailed passed a global haul of $300 million after just ten days in release.
However, they still can’t hold a candle to what’s been happening in China, with the market rebounding much faster and a whole lot stronger than business on home soil. Fast & Furious 9 may be the highest-grossing American-backed blockbuster of the pandemic era, but the current record actually belongs to Hi, Mom, which hauled in $822 million, with only a million dollars of that total coming from theaters outside of China.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, though, that benchmark is set to be exceeded in short order by The Battle of Lake Changjin, which has earned $633 million after a week and a half, and is projected to hit $830 million by the end of its run.
That would comfortably make it the most lucrative title to have hit the big screen since the beginning of 2020, so you can completely understand why American studios are so desperate to have big budget offerings approved for a Chinese release.