TORONTO -- The Jet Li-starring 3D picture Flying Swords of Dragon Gate pulled in $2.5 million on 59 Imax screens across China during its opening weekend, the giant screen exhibitor said Monday.
Toronto-based Imax and Chinese distributor Bona Film Group reported a per-screen average of $42,400 for the martial arts picture.
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate is the first Chinese-language feature to be released in Imax 3D.
The film reunites director Tsui Hark with his Once Upon a Time in China leading man Li, and also stars Zhou Xun, Aloys Chen Kun, Kwai Lun-Mei, Li Yuchun and Fan Xiaoxuan.
"The results of our network growth in China are bearing fruit with the opening weekend box office success of Flying Swords of Dragon Gate," Imax CEO Richard Gelfond said Monday in a statement.
Imax currently has around 200 theatres operating or in backlog in China.
The build-out of Imax’s screens in that Asian market continued with recent and separate deals with Sichuan Lumiere Pavilions Company for three new digital screens, and another for four digital screens with Orange Sky Golden Harvest Cinemas.