Deadpool may be setting US box office records but China broke a world record

Numbers were boosted by Stephen Chow’s latest comedy The Mermaid

With all this talk about Deadpool outgrossing everyone’s estimates and breaking box office records, you would think it was the biggest film in the world right now.

Actually, it is not. While the film may have set records for R-Rated films in North America, in China they’ve just had the biggest week in the history of film. Yes, the HISTORY of film.

How? Well, thanks to Stephen Chow’s latest comedy The Mermaid, China alone, over the last seven days, has racked up $548 (£378) million in box office revenue.

The last time that much money was made in seven days by a single territory was in December, when the North American-Canadian territories managed to rack up $529.6 (£365) million between the 25-31 December 2015.

That week was bolstered by the huge hitting Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is currently the third highest grossing film of all time.

A number of factors play into China having such a huge weekend including that the week included both Chinese New Year and Valentines Day.

As well as the success of The Mermaid, there were also stellar performances from the likes of The Man From Macau 3 and Monkey King 2, both of which made over $110 million.

The Mermaid itself is on course to break more box office records of its own, with the likelihood of it becoming the first film in china to cross the $500 million mark looking very possible. Currently, the highest grossing film in China is Monster Hunter, which grossed $391 million.