HONG KONG, July 13 — China looks all set to crown a new all-time box office champion as “Painted Skin: The Resurrection” continues to thrill audiences across the country.

The fantasy-based actioner — which stars Zhou Xun and Vicki Zhao — has collected an estimated ¥231 million (RM116 million) over the past week for a two-week total of ¥533 million, helping make the young Mongolian director Wuershan the toast of the nation.

'Painted Skin: The Resurrection' continues to thrill audiences across China. — AFP/RelaxnewsThose figures put the second production in the Painted Skin franchise on target to reel in China’s previous box office champion, the Jiang Wen-directed action-comedy “Let The Bullets Fly”, which collected ¥656 million back in 2010, according to China Film Biz.

Total Chinese box office taking continue to rise

The news caps an impressive week for the Chinese film industry as a whole, with the release of half-year figures showing box office revenue had topped ¥7.74 billion, up an impressive 35 percent year on year.

Chinese cinemas played host to a stream of Hollywood blockbusters this year — with the three top-grossing films so far this year being “Titanic” 3D with ¥977 million, “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” with ¥649 million, and “The Avengers” with ¥576 million.

But Chinese cinema-goers are preparing for a stream of local productions over the next few months, led by Feng Xiaogang’s “1942”, Wong Kar-wai’s “The Grandmaster” and Jackie Chan’s “Chinese Zodiac”.

Spider-Man reigns in Japan, falls in South Korea

In Japanese cinemas over the past week film fans have continued flocking to see The Amazing Spider-Man, adding US$4.5 million (RM14.4 million) to its coffers for a two-week total of US$20.75 million, according to Tokyo Hive.

“Spider-Man”’s run as the most popular film in South Korea was brought to an end, meanwhile, with the Park Jeong-woo-directed thriller “Deranged” taking top spot with just over 1.3 million admissions, according to Han Cinema.

“The Amazing Spider-Man” still accounted for admissions of 1.06 million for a total now of 3.6 million since it was released on July 3. — AFP/Relaxnews