IS China’s movie box office back to boom? The first two months of 2018 would certainly seem to suggest, yes.

Total ticket revenue for January and February soared 39 percent to 15.05 billion yuan (US$2.37 billion), up from the 10.82 billion yuan total in the first two months of 2017.

Already the world’s second-biggest theatrical market, China is once again rapidly closing the gap with North America, still the world’s largest. The roaring start to the year is further evidence that the Chinese film market has fully bounced back from a shock correction in 2016, when growth stalled at 3.7 percent after half a decade of 35 percent annual expansion.

Hollywood, however, has been somewhat absent from the scene in 2018. The three biggest U.S. films this year so far are “Jumaji: Welcome to the Jungle” (US$77.9 million), “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” (US$49.7 million) and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (US$42.6 million), all of which have been dwarfed by an imported Bollywood blockbuster, Amir Kahn’s musical drama “Secret Superstar” (US$117 million).

The real engine driving the big gains was Chinese New Year, which saw six new releases collectively earn US$901 million in a single week beginning Feb. 16. At the close of February, Wanda Film’s action comedy blockbuster “Detective Chinatown 2,” a ribald local spin on the Sherlock archetype, was 2018’s frontrunner, having pulled in US$454.5 million since Feb. 16. It was closely trailed by Bona Film Group’s military action flick “Operation Red Sea,” which has ridden red hot word-of-mouth to become 2018’s biggest surprise, with a US$395 million total so far. Edko Entertainment’s family fantasy sequel “Monster Hunt 2” has slumped somewhat since its record-setting US$85 million opening day, but it still earned a whopping US$335 million.

Rounding out the holiday power set were “The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women” with US$111.5 million and animation “Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink” at US$85 million.

Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World” will attempt to shake things up when it opens in China on Friday. But major Hollywood muscle won’t hit the market until Marvel Disney’s “Black Panther” opens March 9.(SD-Agencies)