Two major Hollywood blockbusters delivered contrasting results across Asia during the August 7–9 weekend, with Spider-Man: Brand New Day retaining the No. 1 position in mainland China while Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opened at the top of the South Korean box office. The two films are now heading into another important phase of their Asian theatrical runs, with The Odyssey set for its wide China release on August 14.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Holds No. 1 in China
Spider-Man: Brand New Day remained at the top of the mainland China box office for a second consecutive weekend, collecting approximately $28.9 million (RMB 196.6 million) between August 7 and 9. The film has now accumulated approximately $185.4 million in China since opening on July 29.
The film is now approaching the $199 million earned by Spider-Man: Far From Home in China in 2019. That film remains the last American superhero release to cross the $100 million mark in the Chinese market, putting Brand New Day within reach of another significant franchise benchmark.
Pearl Studio’s animated fantasy All Wishes Come True! held second place with approximately $20.4 million in its fourth weekend. The film has now reached $210.6 million since its July 18 release, continuing its strong run during the Chinese summer season.
Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, from Dirty Monkeys and Damai Entertainment, moved into third place with approximately $15 million from preview screenings. To Your Island opened in fourth place with $7.9 million. The animated fantasy romance, directed by Zhou Haoran and adapted from a web novel, is the first in-house production from Enlight Animation, the specialty arm of Enlight Pictures, which was also behind Ne Zha 2.
Meanwhile, The Odyssey entered the Chinese top five ahead of its full theatrical launch, collecting approximately $6.9 million from IMAX-only preview screenings. That brought the film’s overall China total to approximately $7.6 million before its wide release on Friday, August 14. The preview performance points to strong anticipation for Nolan’s epic ahead of its full market rollout.
Kung Fu Soccer, which had remained among China’s top-performing films since its July 11 release, dropped out of the top five for the first time. The film had accumulated approximately $318.5 million by the end of the weekend and remains the biggest title of the Chinese summer season so far.
The overall mainland Chinese box office generated approximately $97.3 million during the weekend, down around a quarter from the previous frame. China’s 2026 year-to-date box office has reached approximately $3.57 billion, representing a 31.8% decline from the same period in 2025. That comparison continues to be heavily influenced by the extraordinary performance of Ne Zha 2 last year. The year-on-year gap has nevertheless narrowed considerably from the nearly 56% deficit recorded in March.
The Odyssey Opens at No. 1 in South Korea
While Spider-Man: Brand New Day maintained its position in China, The Odyssey delivered the weekend’s biggest development in South Korea by opening at No. 1 and moving Spider-Man into second place. Nolan’s epic arrived in the market on August 5 and quickly established itself as the leading film of the weekend.
The Odyssey earned approximately $10.3 million from 1,333,569 admissions during the three-day weekend, playing across 1,798 screens and accounting for 45.13% of total weekend revenue. Since its August 5 launch, the film has collected approximately $14.4 million from 1,874,863 admissions.
The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron and Zendaya, and follows Odysseus on his perilous journey home after the Trojan War. Its early demand in Korea is also reflected in ticket presales. As of Monday morning, The Odyssey accounted for approximately 63.5% of all ticket presales in the country, indicating strong demand heading into its second week.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day slipped to second place in Korea, collecting approximately $9.2 million from 1,264,788 admissions over the weekend. The film accounted for 40.38% of the weekend market and has now reached approximately $43.7 million from 5,916,425 admissions since its release. It represented approximately 21.2% of ticket presales heading into the new week.
The Korean animated film Heartsping of Love 2: The Legend of the Whale Jewel placed third with 289,451 admissions during the weekend. The sci-fi epic Hope followed in fourth place, recording 100,889 admissions and approximately $660,000 in weekend revenue.
The South Korean market itself recorded approximately $22.9 million during the weekend, making it the biggest single weekend of the year so far. It surpassed the previous 2026 record of $20.8 million, set just one week earlier.
Two Blockbusters, Two Different Asian Box Office Stories
The August 7–9 weekend highlighted the different trajectories of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey across two of Asia’s major theatrical markets. Spider-Man continues to lead in China and has accumulated approximately $1.67 billion worldwide after 10 days, while The Odyssey has crossed $1.1 billion globally and has now become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film.
The next major development will come in China, where The Odyssey opens wide on August 14 after its strong IMAX preview performance. Its full release will provide the next significant test of the film’s momentum in Asia, while Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues its theatrical run in a market where it has already established a strong position.
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