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‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ tops China box office with $68 million

From left, Zoe Saldana; the character Rocket Raccoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper; Chris Pratt; the character Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel, and Dave Bautista in a scene from "Guardians Of the Galaxy."
(Disney / Associated Press)
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“Guardians of the Galaxy” soared to the top of the China box office last week, grabbing $38.2 million and bringing its total on the mainland to $68.2 million.

Despite negative press over the quality of its Chinese subtitles, “Guardians” second-week haul outperformed its opening-week take of $30 million, according to figures from film industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway.

The Marvel blockbuster dethroned director Ning Hao’s road-trip comedy “Breakup Buddies,” which has taken in $174 million since its Sept. 30 release and is now the third-highest-grossing Chinese-language film ever, behind “Lost in Thailand,” which earned $207.3 million in 2012, and last year’s “Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons,” which grossed $204.3 million.

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The child-abduction drama “Dearest” by Peter Ho-Sun Chan continued to perform well, taking in nearly $4.9 million and bringing its tally to $53.6 million.

A 3-D re-release of the 2006 animated film “Ice Age: The Meltdown” landed in a disappointing fourth place for the week, taking in just $3.9 million. Eight years ago, when China’s movie market was a mere fraction of what it is today, the original earned $6 million in the country.

Three-dimensional re-releases of certain films have performed exceptionally well in China. In 2012, a 3-D version of “Titanic” earned $155.3 million while the 3-D re-release of the 2009 disaster film “2012” took in $22.1 million, Artisan said. Last year, “Jurassic Park” returned to Chinese screens in 3-D, 20 years after it was made in two dimensions, and hauled in $57.2 million.

In fifth place for the week was “Black & White Episode 2,” which has now grossed more than $38 million.

China’s overall box office for the year now stands at $3.92 billion and could cross the $4-billion mark as early as next week.

Follow me on Twitter @JulieMakLAT

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