DONNIE YEN’S action thriller “Raging Fire” easily torched the competition for a second weekend at the top of China’s theatrical box office.

The film earned a healthy US$21.6 million in its second outing, down 42 percent from its US$37.2 million opening a week ago, according to data from regional box-office tracker Artisan Gateway.

The film’s two-weekend total stands at US$82.8 million. With little by way of strong competition on the horizon, ticketing app Maoyan forecasts the film to enjoy a lengthy run that finishes at over US$150 million.

“Raging Fire” stars Donnie Yen as a righteous cop whose past catches up with him when a former, corrupted protege, played by Nicholas Tse, comes after him seeking revenge.  It’s the final feature from the late Hong Kong action director Benny Chan, who died of cancer during post-production in August 2020. The film is produced by Hong Kong’s Emperor Motion Pictures and Sil-Metropole Organization, along with Tencent Pictures.

The next three biggest earners for the frame all repeated their rankings from the preceding weekend. Holdover teen drama “Upcoming Summer” scored second with US$6.1 million for a US$35.2 million total, while local animated hit “Green Snake” earned US$5.2 million, taking its total to US$67.5 million. In fourth, the nationalistic pandemic tentpole “Chinese Doctors” edged upwards by US$2 million, coming just shy of the US$200 million marks with a US$197.1 million running total.                 (SD-Agencies)