From China with love
But from time to time we find surprises that arrive, it is also true, enhanced by the peculiarities of certain markets such as China, which alone is as big as the US, Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan together, what allows you to experience exceptions to the Marvel rule that are always welcome. And the name of that exception is none other than moon man.
Produced entirely in China and released in theaters last Friday, July 29, moon man managed to get a total of 129 million dollars in its first weekend. Doesn’t that seem like a lot to you? Well, if we take into account what other same-day releases have achieved in Western markets, such as The League of Super Pets From DC, surely you can already put it in perspective: only 23 million in a single territory such as the US, and 41 adding those of the rest of the planet.
In this case of moon man we talk about a milestone because you all know how much they continue to restrict the movements of the population in China due to the impact of Covid-19, so achieving such a figure in a single weekend is a sign that things are returning to normal and that viewers are returning to theaters after two years of harsh containment measures of the illness.
If, for example, we compare moon man with the last great premiere of Marvel, Thor: Love & Thunder managed to get hold of 143 million dollars in the US alone. and 153 adding other markets in the rest of the world. The differences are still great but it is obvious that it is a record that a production as local as the Chinese one has been able to withstand the type so well in its first hours in theaters.
Lonely than one
The story of moon man takes us to the routine life of the last man that survives in the universe and is left alone on the satellite after a meteorite hits the Earth, extinguishing our entire species from one day to the next. As you can see in the trailer, the comic figure of a kangaroo appears (we don’t want to know what role it will play).
Obviously the film still has a long way to go at the box office to reach higher figures but, as Edwin Tan, CEO of IMAX China stated, Variety, «moon man marks a fundamental milestone in the recovery of the film industry this year, as well as a major step forward in the production of Chinese sci-fi blockbusters.”
