Local films bump ‘Captain America’ from top of China box office

BEIJING — “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was finally bumped from atop the mainland China box office last week by two local-language films, “My Old Classmate” and the Donnie Yen-starrer “Iceman 3D.”

The love story “My Old Classmate,” directed by Frant Gwo, opened Friday and earned $17.9 million, according to industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway. LeVision Pictures’ “Iceman,” which also opened Friday, was No. 2 with $11.6 million.

Marvel’s “Captain America” brought in $10.1 million and overall has earned more than $108 million in mainland China since its release April 4, Artisan said.

In fourth place was Dante Lam’s “That Demon Within,” which earned $7.8 million, beating out the Johnny Depp-starrer “Transcendence.” The sci-fi film coproduced by Alcon Entertainment and Beijing-based DMG Entertainment had to settle for fifth place with about $7.3 million for the week. In 10 days of release, the film has earned $18.2 million.

China’s May 1 holiday starts Thursday and lasts through Saturday. “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” will begin its mainland run Sunday, which is an official workday.