Chinese New Year’s ‘Blades Of The Guardians’ Draws Crossover Audience; Kingly Opening For ‘Elvis Presley’ — Specialty Box Office

Well Go USA is super pleased with the debut of its Chinese New Year’s title Blades of the Guardians. Starring Jet Li and Wu Jing, it’s directed by Yuen Woo-ping — the iconic, now 80-year-old, martial arts choreographer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Matrix and Kill Bill — and looking at an estimated $760k from 184 runs, including $282k from Thursday previews. Well Go says the audience is crossing over from the Chinese diaspora to mainstream action fans.

“Crossover momentum is turning this into a true theatrical event, and we’re expanding to meet the demand,” says Jason Pfardrescher, EVP Distribution. He’s hoping to add at least 100 screens, which would be unusual as Chinese films don’t often move beyond their opening footprint.

Initial interest always tends to echo home country buzz and “a couple of other New Year’s films were slated to outperform Blades in China, so it started off a little bit behind,” Pfardrescher says. But it’s catching on — 97% Certified Fresh with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. Informal theater checks show a broad demographic of moviegoers alongside core Asian audiences. Numbers are strong at Alamo Drafthouse theaters.

The story follows Dao Ma, a legendary bodyguard known as the second most wanted criminal in the land, who is entrusted by his benefactor to escort Zhi Shilang, the most wanted, whose mysterious identity is crucial to the fate of the nation. The mission to Chang’an across the vast Gobi Desert is fraught with danger and series of life-or-death battles. Trailer here.

It was kingly weekend for Baz Luhrmann’s EPiC: Elvis Presley In Concert from Neon, which sang up $3.25 million from only 325 locations. It’s the only film in the top ten (at no. 7) that’s under 1,000 runs, and it’s having the biggest ever opening weekend domestically for an Imax-exclusive music release. At $10k, the documentary also had the best per screen average among the toppers.

“We’re excited to see audiences connecting with EPiC,” said Neon’s distribution chief Elissa Federoff, calling the documentary “something deeply personal and undeniably cinematic — Elvis at his best, on the biggest screens possible.”

A24 comedic thriller How to Make a Killing by John Patton Ford, starring Glen Powell and Margaret Qualley, landed at no 6 with a $3.56 million debut on 1,600 screens. It’s Ford’s sophomore feature following Emily the Criminal.

Pillion by Harry Lighton continued to whip up grosses in week 3 with a terrific $576.4k on just 89 screens. The “dom-com” starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling is playing well across markets and A24 plans to roll it out nationwide through March.

There was no shortage of affection for the 2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts. They opened to just over $1 million at 354 theaters, a nice debut for Roadside Attractions in its first year with the program, which showcases the Academy Award Short Film categories of Animated, Documentary and Live Action with three feature-length compilations.

Focus Features’ Midwinter Break by Polly Findlay starring Lesley Manville and Ciarán Hinds debuted at $530k in 808 theaters.

This Is Not A Test from IFC Films opened with $150k at 450 theaters.

Limited: Abramorama documentary Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It is at saw $15k at the Film Forum in NYC.

Holdovers: Briarcliff Entertainment’s Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die grossed an estimated $1.5 million at 1,672 locations in week 2 for a cume of $6.58 million.

Neon’s Nirvanna: The Band The Show The Movie is eying a $550k second weekend on 384 screens for a $2.4 million cume.

Vertical’s Dracula – the distributor’s top grossing title ever — is looking at a $1.3 million on 1,275 screens with Cinemark the top-performing circuit in weekend 3 for a cume of $11.4 million.

Kokuho from GKids, also in week 3, is at an estimated $409k for the three days and a $606k cume at 261 theaters.