Warner Bros.' Asian-centric film "Crazy Rich Asians" continued to lead North American weekend box office for the third weekend in a row with an estimated 22.23 million U.S. dollars, pushing its total in North America to an impressive 110.96 million dollars through Sunday.
Following Sony's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," Disney's "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War," the romantic comedy-drama film, based on Kevin Kwan's novel of the same name, is the fourth film so far this year to stay atop the North American box office three weekends in a row. Kwan was born in Singapore as the youngest of three boys into an established Chinese family. The "Crazy Rich Asians" inspired by his childhood in Singapore was the first of his trilogy novels. The two other titles are "China Rich Girlfriend" and "Rich People Problems."
"Crazy Rich Asians" is the first Hollywood studio film in over 25 years to feature a nearly all Asian cast since 1993's "Joy Luck Club." Directed by Chinese American filmmaker Jon M. Chu, the film stars Michelle Yeoh, Gemma Chan, Constance Wu, Ken Jeong, Harry Shum Jr., Chris Pang, Sonoya Mizuno, Jing Lusi and Awkwafina. The plot follows a young Chinese American woman who travels to meet her boyfriend's family, only to find them to be among the richest in Singapore.
Warner Bros. is reportedly planning a sequel based on Kwan's follow-up book "China Rich Girlfriend" after the huge box office success of "Crazy Rich Asians."
Another release of Warner Bros., American-Chinese co-production "The Meg," came in second with an estimated 10.53 million dollars in its fourth weekend. The film has earned a total of 120.51 million dollars in North America and 462.8 million dollars worldwide through Sunday, according to the studio figures collected by comScore.
The science fiction shark film, based on the New York Times best-selling novel "Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror" by Steve Alten, is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures and China's Gravity Pictures. The film was distributed in China by Gravity Pictures, and throughout the rest of the world by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Directed by Jon Turteltaub, "The Meg" stars English action star Jason Statham and award-winning Chinese actress Li Bingbing among others. Filming on the film was accomplished on location in China and New Zealand. The plot follows a group of scientists who encounter pre-historic huge Megalodon sharks.
Paramount's action film "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" landed in third with an estimated 7 million dollars in its fifth weekend for a North American total of 204.34 million dollars. Starring Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" is the sixth installment in the franchise. It's widely believed that the box office of "Mission: Impossible - Fallout" will be the franchise-best, expecting to collect more than 700 million worldwide.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio's historical drama film "Operation Finale" opened in fourth place with an estimated 6 million dollars in its first weekend. Directed by Chris Weitz, the film follows the efforts of Israeli intelligence officers in 1960 to capture Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann who is taking refuge in Argentina.
Sony's thriller film "searching" finished fifth with an estimated 5.7 million dollars in its second weekend. The film starring John Cho follows a father trying to find his missing daughter with the help of a police detective.
