Box Office: ‘Detective Chinatown’ And ‘Hi Mom’ Join ‘Avengers,’ ‘Avatar’ And ‘Star Wars’ In The $600M Club

There are 15 movies that have grossed at least $600 million in either North America or China. Avengers: Endgame did it in both territories.

Detective Chinatown 3 earned another $15 million on Saturday, am 87.5% drop from its $120 million Saturday gross. Yes, it was frontloaded as hell, likely owing to a huge quantity of demand filled from the $398.5 million opening weekend, huge competition from Hi, Mom and the fact that audiences weren’t as keen on the threequel compared to its two predecessors. Still, a $117 million-budgeted action comedy has earned $610 million in China alone over nine days of release, so I’d still expect a Detective Chinatown 4 (presumably one less concerned with mythology and one less mired in third-act despair) in two-to-three years. Not to be outdone, Hi, Mom earned another $45 million on Saturday, bringing its eight-day cume to $585 million. It’ll today become the 15th member of the $600 million club.

That means that the 15 films in question have earned at least $600 million in a single territory. Yes, all of these films grossed such massive earnings in North America and/or China, yes most of these are very recent releases and no, none of this accounts for inflation. For the record, there are around 55 movies that, when adjusted for inflation, have earned at least $600 million in North American grosses since the proverbial dawn of time. But sans inflation, there are ten such releases. While Avengers: Endgame is merely the second-biggest grossing movie in North America ($867 million in 2019) and (as of tomorrow) the sixth-biggest in China ($620 million), it is the only film to have earned even $400 million or more in two territories. So that’s 16 entries but 15 movies.

Avengers: Infinity War ($679 million domestic/$357 million in China in 2018) and Furious 7 ($350 million/$391 million in 2015) are the only other films with “duel citizenship” in the $300 million club. Aquaman got awfully close, earning $335 million domestic and $292 million in China in 2018/2019, so perhaps a reissue in China is in order before Aquaman 2. Maybe a reissue of James Wan’s Aquaman can open concurrently with a reissue of James Cameron’s Avatar before both underwater-set action fantasy sequels directed by a guy named James open on December 16, 2022. I’m guessing one of those will blink. Looking at the list as it stands, there are two big takeaways. China went from zero to hero in just a few years. America may not have another $600 million-plus earner for a very long time.

Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid grossed $556 million in China in early 2016, while Detective Chinatown 2 ($544 million) and Operation Red Sea ($579 million) performed likewise in early 2018.  In between we saw Wu Jing’s big-budget ($30 million) and ultraviolent action spectacular Wolf Warrior II (think Team America with Chinese heroes and played absolutely straight) stunned everyone by earning a jaw-dropping $854 million in China alone. Its $869 million cume was fourth that summer behind only Spider-Man: Far from Home ($880 million) and Despicable Me 3 ($1.034 billion). The sci-fi blockbuster The Wandering Earth kicked off 2019 with $699 million in China while the animated action comedy Ne Zha ended summer with $723 million while Avengers: Endgame earned $620 million in China. Hi, Mom and Detective Chinatown 3 are the two latest $600 million-plus grossers.

China went from “Hey, Monster Hunt earned $385 million in China!” in the summer of 2015 to “Oh no, Detective Chinatown 3 might not make it to $700 million!” in just under six years. Meanwhile, the strength of Disney’s nostalgia-driven IP (and the overall popularity of their MCU movies) propelled a handful of biggies to once-unthinkable heights. Prior to 2012, the only two such earners were James Cameron’s Titanic ($600 million in 1997/1998, $659 million counting the 2012 3-D reissue) and James Cameron’s Avatar ($749 million in 2009/2010, $760 million counting the 2010 reissue). The Dark Knight shocked the industry and changed pop culture with a then-unimaginable $533 million domestic cume to become just the fourth movie to pass $1 billion worldwide in the summer of 2008. The nine newbie entries have been mostly Marvel epics and Star Wars sequels.

The only new non-Disney member was Universal’s Jurassic World, which parlayed franchise nostalgia for the original Steven Spielberg-directed dino blockbuster ($912 million in 1993, the biggest global grosser ever prior to Titanic), a “popular right now” cast led by Chris Pratt and Bryce-Dallas Howard and the fact that Colin Trevorrow’s “the park is open and booming” sequel offered a genuinely entertaining and colorful action spectacular that played great on a big screen with a packed audience. Cue a then-record $208 million domestic debut and a $652 million domestic gross, right between The Avengers ($623 million in 2012) and Titanic ($659 million total). Speaking of, Joss Whedon’s The Avengers grossed $1.517 billion worldwide. The “we get to win this time” rewrite of the 9/11 attacks accidentally sent Hollywood on an industry-damaging Moby Dick-like quest for MCU-like “cinematic universes.”

We had three more MCU movies top $600 million, namely Black Panther in 2018, Avengers: Infinity War in 2018 and Avengers: Endgame in 2019. Meanwhile, Disney would buy Lucasfilm and relaunch the Star Wars saga, beginning with The Force Awakens. That J.J. Abrams-directed action fantasy played as a loose remake of A New Hope, and it scored thanks to generational nostalgia, charismatic new characters, a winning reprisal from Harrison Ford as Han Solo that (my nitpicks aside) it was unapologetically splashy IMAX-friendly popcorn entertainment. Cue a record $248 million opening and (partially thanks to an opening weekend that led right into the holiday break and Christmas and New Year’s falling on a Friday) a sky-high $937 million domestic cume, marking the first time since Jaws in 1975 that the biggest domestic earner wasn’t a Spielberg, Lucas or Cameron-directed flick.

Rian Johnson’s well-reviewed and mostly well-received (an A from CinemaScore) The Last Jedi had a less- generous schedule (kids were in school until its second Monday), plus divisive online chatter, brutal competition from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman and not being the first “new” Star Wars sequel since 1983. Still, $620 million domestic is good enough to make it the 15^th-biggest single-territory gross of all time. Released alongside the sky-high successes of Black Panther ($700 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($679 million), the fact that Brad Bird’s Incredibles 2 took one of the biggest movie-to-movie jumps ever for a second sequel (from $261 million in 2004 to $608 million in 2018) almost went unnoticed. The Pixar sequel and Jurassic World as the only non-Marvel/Star Wars newbie since 2009.

China will have more $600 million-plus grossers in its future, but Hollywood may not. The end of both the “Skywalker Saga” and the “Infinity Saga” may mark a peak for Star Wars and the MCU. That both prized IP now exist on Disney+ in episodic television spin-offs threatens to make the movies less of an event in North America. Theoretical threequels to Frozen or Incredibles along with Jurassic World: Dominion (June 10, 2022) and Avatar 2 (December 16, 2022) could possibly rise to the occasion. Ditto Black Panther 2 (July 8, 2022) or a theoretical Avengers 5.  Otherwise, Avengers: Endgame may be the last Hollywood movie to gross $600 million domestic. It may not be the last Hollywood movie to gross $600 million in China but ask me again when Fast & Furious 11 debuts.

For those who just wanted a list:

Five MCU movies (making up six slots)

Five Chinese blockbusters

Two Star Wars sequels

Two James Cameron-directed epics

Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – $937 million domestic

Avengers: Endgame – $867 million domestic

Wolf Warrior II – $854 million in China

Avatar – $760 million domestic

Ze Zha – $723 million in China

Black Panther – $700 million domestic

The Wandering Earth – $699 million in China

Avengers: Infinity War – $679 million domestic

Titanic – $659 million domestic

Jurassic World – $652 million domestic

Detective Chinatown 3 – $625 million-and-counting in China (guestimate)

The Avengers – $623 million domestic

Star Wars: The Last Jedi – $620 million domestic

Avengers: Endgame – $620 million in China

Hi, Mom – $616 million-and-counting in China (guestimate)

Incredibles 2 – $608 million domestic