‘Night at the Museum’ tops China box office; ‘Tiger’ at $130 million

“Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” jumped to the top of the box office charts last week in China, leaping ahead of some popular Chinese-language productions and taking in almost $24.5 million.

The third installment in the Ben Stiller franchise from 20th Century Fox has earned nearly $28.3 million since its Jan. 4 release, figures from film industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway showed.

In second place for the week was Taiwanese director Chen Zhengdao’s “Miss Granny,” a remake of a South Korean comedy, which earned $20.6 million in its first four days in theaters.

Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s “The Taking of Tiger Mountain” from Bona Film added another $17.5 million to its haul. The film set in the 1940s during China’s civil war and starring Tony Leung has now earned nearly $130 million since its Dec. 23 release.

A 3-D re-release of Wong Kar-Wai’s 2013 Oscar-nominated “The Grandmaster” grabbed fourth place for the week, earning nearly $5 million, Artisan said. In fifth place for the week was the Chinese animated film “One Hundred Thousand Bad Jokes,” which has now taken in $17.8 million in total.

Neither Columbia Pictures’ “Annie” nor the Ethan Hawke time-travel movie “Predestination” registered strongly with Chinese moviegoers last week.

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