‘Captain America’ tops China box office again, haul now $80 million

Samuel L. Jackson, left, Scarlett Johansson, center, and Chris Evans pose during a publicity event in Beijing ahead of the April release of the movie “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

(Ng Han Guan, Associated Press)

Samuel L. Jackson, left, Scarlett Johansson, center, and Chris Evans pose during a March publicity event in Beijing ahead of the April release of the movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." (Ng Han Guan / Associated Press)

BEIJING – “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” topped the mainland China box office for the second week in a row, hauling in $42 million and bringing its cumulative earnings in the territory to nearly $80 million.

The Marvel superhero sequel accounted for 56% of the total box-office take of $75 million for the week that ended Sunday, film industry consulting firm Artisan Gateway said. That makes “Captain America” the top-grossing imported film of the year, surpassing “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” in just 10 days of release.

The animated “Rio 2” was a distant second at the box office after opening Friday; the movie took in $11 million. It was followed by the local production “The Truth About Beauty” (which earned $5.6 million) and “Mr. Peabody & Sherman” (which took in $3.2 million, bringing its total in mainland China to $18 million). In fifth place for the week was “The Legend of Hercules,” which opened Friday and made $2.4 million.

Year to date, the mainland box-office tally now stands at $1.24 billion, Artisan Gateway said.