Making waves at the box office

Aquaman becomes the most successful DC superhero film in China, Xu Fan reports.

With earnings of 850 million yuan ($123.4 million) in just six days in China, Aquaman has become the most successful superhero film adapted from American comic giant DC's books on the mainland.

The $160-million epic starring Hawaii-born actor Jason Momoa as the lead is running on around 85 percent of the country's screens－including nearly 600 Imax screens－since Dec 7.

The release of Aquaman in China also makes it the first Hollywood big-budget film to be shown in China two weeks ahead of its North American release.

Typically, films in mainland theaters run for one month. So, considering that the film has just been released, Aquaman is estimated to earn 1.76 billion yuan, according to the box-office tracking and analyzing site Maoyan.

To gauge how successful this film is, you have to consider that the box-office performance of the previous record holder for films based on DC's heroes.

Warner Brothers and DC Film's ensemble epic, Justice League, featuring Superman and Batman, earned just 691 million yuan in 2017.

For nearly a decade, DC's superheroes had been outperformed by its longtime rival Marvel in China, the world's second-largest movie market. Avengers: Infinity War earned 2.39 billion yuan earlier this year to top all Marvel's superhero films in China.

This time, however, DC is striking back.