Movies With Butter

Despite a winter storm that caused many theaters in the East Coast to shut down, “Ip Man 3” pulled in a solid $762K at the box office from 103 theaters in its U.S. debut over the weekend.

Its per theater average of $7,402 is the highest of all films currently playing, besting “The Revenant” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” the top two films at the box office.

The previous film, “Ip Man 2,” opened in the U.S. in 2011 with $61K from 21 theaters and finished its run with $206K. Compared to that, the current entry is doing spectacular business. In just one weekend, “Ip Man 3” has already grossed nearly four times its predecessor during its entire theatrical run.

What helped “Ip Man 3’s” enormous box office growth from the previous film was that its distributor, WellGo USA, released the film just a month after its debut in Asian territories. Variance Films waited nearly a year before releasing “Ip Man 2.”

What also helped was that the film’s stars, Donnie Yen and Mike Tyson, had been promoting the film in talk shows across the U.S. before its release.

In Asia, “Ip Man 3” has already grossed $25M, breaking records in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan in the process. It opens in China on March 4th.

With the film doing so well so far in its current territories, it’s not surprising that Yen told fans on Twitter that the possibility of an “Ip Man 4” is “very likely.” That depends on how it does in China, by far the film’s biggest market.

• Prev:  "Ip Man 4": Donnie Yen says "very likely"
• Next:  Box Office: China's All-Time Top Grosser "Monster Hunt" Fizzles in U.S. Debut