Two very different stories played out across Asia’s biggest box office markets this weekend. In China, a new local war comedy opened strongly at the top, while Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey made its wide debut after weeks of anticipation. In South Korea, the film extended its dominant run for a second consecutive weekend, continuing to outpace Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, a war comedy-drama from Dirty Monkeys, took command of the mainland China box office, grossing $70.3 million during the August 14–16 weekend. Directed by Wen Muye (Dying to Survive) and starring Shen Teng as a Chinese chef who moves to the Middle East to open a restaurant and repay family debts, the film has accumulated $134.1 million since its August 11 rollout. Strong reviews and Shen Teng’s popularity have helped drive its performance.
The Odyssey debuted in second place in China with $28.4 million over its official three-day opening weekend. Including early previews, the film’s cumulative total reached $35.9 million. The film opened across approximately 20,000 screens and received an extensive IMAX rollout. According to IMAX, it delivered the biggest opening weekend for a Christopher Nolan film in China.
Pearl Studio’s animated hit All Wishes Come True! held third place with $13.1 million in its fifth weekend, taking its cumulative total to $235.9 million. It continues to rank among the biggest Chinese animated releases of the year.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day slipped to fourth place in its third full weekend, adding $9.9 million for a cumulative total of $209 million. It remains the highest-grossing Hollywood import in China this year. Enlight Pictures’ animated romance To Your Island rounded out the top five with $2.6 million in its second weekend, bringing its total to $15 million.
Mainland China’s overall weekend box office reached $132.9 million, while the country’s year-to-date revenue stands at $3.79 billion, down 30.4% from the same period in 2025.
In South Korea, The Odyssey remained at No. 1 for a second consecutive weekend, earning $13.2 million from 1,691,744 admissions across 2,114 screens and capturing 59.07% of the total weekend market. The film’s second weekend increased by nearly 28% over its opening weekend, lifting its cumulative Korean gross to $35.2 million from 4,542,480 admissions since its August 5 launch.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day held second place in its third weekend in South Korea, bringing in $5.6 million from 767,839 admissions.
Local animated sequel Teenieping: Legend of the Whale Heartstone retained third place with $906,294 from 133,928 admissions, pushing its total to $4.2 million since its August 5 launch.
Local action-comedy sequel Ok! Madam: Bon Voyage opened in fourth place with $827,800 from 120,982 admissions. The film follows a former secret agent who runs a doughnut shop and finds her family cruise transformed into a hostage crisis.
The road ahead remains busy for both The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Odyssey has only just begun its wider Chinese run and has yet to reach Japan, one of its major remaining markets, giving the film significant room for further growth across Asia.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, meanwhile, continues to hold strongly across Asian markets despite being deeper into its theatrical run. The contrasting performances of the two films highlight the strength of the current Asian box office, with both major Hollywood releases and strong local productions attracting audiences across some of the world’s most competitive theatrical markets.
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