"Cut" Logan Movie Still Scores Big in China

source: variety.com

Despite being cut by 14 minutes, “Logan” and Hugh Jackman dominated the Chinese box office this weekend. Hollywood films accounted for the top eight chart places, including “The Lego Batman Movie” which failed to excite.

It scored $48.0 million, giving a cumulative of $48.9 million including previews, according to data from Ent Group. (20th Century Fox reported $46.3 million.) Tracking showed that the film opened with 85,000 screenings on Friday, with that pattern boosted to some 95,000 on Saturday and Sunday. Included within that total was $4.4 million from 388 IMAX screens.

Censors removed substantial amounts of footage for nudity and violence. The film also carried in-cinema written warnings suggesting that the experience would be physically and mentally challenging for youngsters. Fox made no comment on the censorship cuts or the unusual warnings that come in the absence of an official film ratings system. Some commentators described “Logan” as the first film affected by the new Film Promotion Law, which came into effect from March 1.

In the end the popularity of Jackman, a superstar in China,  was a enough of a positive for 9.98 million spectators to buy tickets. That total kept the film’s market share at more than double the next contender.