Jay Chou's Rooftop comes down to earth

Jay Chou's Rooftop comes down to earth
Jay Chou’s The Rooftop (above) ranked no. 6 in box office sales in Taipei, behind Hollywood films like Pacific Rim, Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University.

TAIPEI - Jay Chou's new movie, The Rooftop, lost to two Hollywood sci-fi movies in China and Taipei.

His martial arts musical made 58.7 million yuan (S$12 million) in China after opening last Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, citing estimates reported by the state-backed China Film Group.

After bombing on its debut in North America last month, Will Smith's After Earth topped the Chinese box office on its opening. It earned 85.8 million yuan (S$17.52) from Friday and Sunday.

At the Taipei box office, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim was No. 1 after taking in NT$42.6 million (S$1.8 million) in tickets in four days of release, despite Typhoon Soulik rocking Taiwan last Friday night and most of Saturday, Apple Daily Taiwan reported.

The Rooftop, which opened there last Thursday, languished at No. 6, according to a chart it published. It made only NT$3.53 million (S$148,366), less than the NT$5-million (S$210,150) opening notched by Chou's first directorial debut, Secret, in 2007, according to Apple.

Ahead of The Rooftop on the chart were Hollywood movies Despicable Me 2, Monsters University, The Heat and White House Down.

Apple said all-Taiwan box-office figures are not openly available and quoted a publicist for The Rooftop as saying on Monday that the movie made NT$10.1 million (S$424,503) across Taiwan in its first four days of release.

Chou, 34, wrote, directed and made The Rooftop for a reported US$10 million (S$12.6 million), a large sum in the Taiwanese film industry.

Rooftop has chalked up about $200,000 at the Singapore box office as of Tuesday, after its opening last Thursday.

Meanwhile, Johnnie To's Blind Detective has made 164 million yuan (S$33.49 million) in China after 11 days, becoming the Hong Kong film-maker's highest-grossing film as a director in China, reported film trade publication Film Business Asia.

The movie had an average of more than 30 admissions a screening over the weekend, second only to After Earth, it said.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.