China Box Office: PACIFIC RIM Stays Top, Smashes US Total
| Rank | Title | Origin | 12/8-18/8 (US$M) | Total (US$M) | Screening days |
| 1 | Pacific Rim | USA | $23.50 | $103.41 | 19 |
| 2 | Tiny Times 2 | China | $16.92 | $44.41 | 11 |
| 3 | One Night Surprise | China | $15.42 | $22.95 | 10 |
| 4 | Unbeatable | Hong Kong/China | $8.99 | $8.99 | 3 |
| 5 | The Palace | China | $7.47 | $7.47 | 6 |
| 6 | Fast & Furious 6 | USA | $2.75 | $65.89 | 24 |
| 7 | Crimes of Passion | China | $1.27 | $3.53 | 11 |
| 8 | I Love Wolffy 2 | China | $1.26 | $11.73 | 18 |
| 9 | White House Down | USA | $0.50 | $28.47 | 28 |
| 10 | Kunta | China | $0.33 | $2.29 | 17 |
It's official, the Chinese love Pacific Rim more than the Americans do. Industry observers have long been talking of the day when the US market is overtaken by China and how Hollywood blockbusters can no longer succeed by solely catering to American audience's tastes. Well, it appears that the day has arrived. Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures' mecha-vs-monster epic, Pacific Rim has now taken more money at the Chinese box office than back on home soil and may have guaranteed it will get a sequel after all.
As of 18 August, the underperforming sci-fi actioner had taken just US$98.3 Million back home, five weeks after opening. In China, however, its box office take now stands at US$103 Million - a figure it has reached in less than 3 weeks. While its takings are now slowing, Pacific Rim still held on to the top spot comfortably, despite solid performances from two locally produced dramas, Tiny Times 2 and One Night Surprise. Both films are directed by, and star women in the lead roles, so no doubt benefitted from being healthy counter-programming choices, while continuing China's recent trend for contemporary urban-set dramas highlighting free-spirited women succeeding in today's modern environment.
Dante Lam's MMA drama, Unbeatable, debuted to a modest RMB55 million opening weekend, but should benefit from strong word-of-mouth and stands pretty much unopposed in terms of male-centric Chinese language product. Although the addition of a stripped and ripped Eddie Peng should help draw female audiences once word gets out this is more of a character drama than a fighting film. The bottom half of the chart sees a combination of aging Hollywood fare and domestic animation take massive drops and will all likely fall out of the Top 10 by this time next week.
Among the new releases opening in China this week, Pixar's Monster's University is expected to make a huge impact, while Xu Zheng (writer-director-star of the massive hit comedy, Lost in Thailand) returns with Fake Fiction, a romantic comedy, which he produces and also takes the lead in.
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