Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Rampage’ Opens With $15.7 Million in China on First Day

[HARDY]

 Dwayne Johnson’s “Rampage” stormed the Chinese box office with $15.7 million on its first day with a nearly 70% share of the top five films.

The Friday number for “Rampage,” which played on a massive 20,000 screens, is the third-highest launch for a Warner Bros. title. It surpassed the opening day numbers for “Ready Player One” by 11%, for “Tomb Raider” by 14% and for “Jumanji” by 28%.

“Rampage” opened on Thursday with $9.1 million in 41 other international markets at approximately 17,250 screens.

The U.K. led the way with  $1.3 million on Thursday at approximately 866 screens. Excluding previews, the sci-fi actioner surpassed the opening day grosses for “Kong: Skull Island” by 30%.

In Malaysia, “Rampage” took a 78% share of the top five films with $877,000 from 566 screens, topping “San Andreas” by 44%. The film produced the second-biggest opening day of 2018 in the UAE and dominated with a 75% share of the top five with $665,000 from 168 screens.

“Rampage” generated the biggest opening day of the year in Thailand with a 75% box office share of the top five films, bringing in $639,000 from 597 screens. In South Korea, the film was first with nearly a 40% share, narrowly behind the opening day for “Godzilla.”

The film opens in the United States and another 20 markets on Friday, including China, Spain and Mexico. It opened with a solid $2.4 million in Thursday night preview screenings in North America. “Rampage,” loosely based on the 1986 Midway arcade game, has been forecasted to debut between $37 million and $40 million from 3,950 theaters this weekend in North America,

Johnson portrays a primatologist who shares a bond with a silverback gorilla who becomes a giant beast after a rogue genetic experiment goes wrong and creates an array of rampaging creatures. Naomie Harris, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Joe Manganiello also star in the film, directed by Brad Peyton. The sci-fi adventure carries a reported $120 million price tag.