CHINA BOX OFFICE: The third installment in Guo Jingming’s Tiny Times franchise grossed $50.12m over its opening weekend in China, finally toppling Transformers: Age Of Extinction from the top spot.

Distributed by Le Vision Pictures and Huace Film & TV, Tiny Times 3 pulled in 9.8 million admissions over the four-day weekend (July 17-20). The first Tiny Times film, about a group of young professionals living in Shanghai, was released at the end of June 2013 and grossed $78.6m, while its sequel, rushed out a few months later, took $47m.

Transformers 4 still managed to pull in a further $26.08m in its fourth week and has passed the $300m benchmark with a cumulative gross of $306.28m, according to EntGroup figures.

The surprise of the week was the strong opening for horror movie The House That Never Dies, which grossed $25.1m over the three-day weekend (July 18-20) to take third position in the chart. Starring Hong Kong actor Francis Ng, the 3D thriller is directed by Raymond Yip and produced by Manfred Wong, the director-producer team behind Bruce Lee, My Brother and Lost On Journey.

In its second week, local comedy Old Boys: The Way Of The Dragon grossed $12.67m for a cume of $29.59m, while The Breakup Guru, a comedy directed by and starring Deng Chao, reached a cume of $103.9m after grossing $11.23m in its fourth week (July 14-20).

Local animations took the next three positions in the chart: Seer 4 grossed $2.82m for a cume of $9.18m; opener Happy Heroes 2: Qiyuan Planet Wars took $2.61m over its opening three-day weekend; and Roco Kingdom 3 grossed $2.1m for a cume of $7.05m in its second week.

In ninth position, Disney’s Maleficent has reached a cume of $47.72m after grossing $1.23m last week, while Korean-Chinese horror Bunshinsaba 3 rounded out the top ten with a weekly take of $850,000 for a cume of $7.89m.

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