"X-Men: Apocalypse" made 383 million yuan (US$58.3 million) during its opening weekend in China, launching one of the hottest blockbuster summers in the world's second largest film market.

The debut grosses in three days represented the second largest 20th Century Fox opening in China behind only the "Titanic 3D" re-release, making US$20 million more than "X-Men: Days of Future Past." Thus far, the worldwide total for "Apocalypse" stands at US$402.5 million.

While "X-Men: Apocalypse" received mixed reviews from U.S. critics on Rotten Tomatoes with a rating of just 48 percent, it was much better received in China. On the audiences' score tracking website, Douban.com, the film was rated as high as 8.2/10 based on more than 50,000 reviews, while many fans and geeks playfully wrote about the visual feast and "bromance" between two of the leading characters, namely Professor X and Magneto.

However, the prospect of profit may not last very long. The monstrous fantasy epic "Warcraft" will open on Wednesday and the presale figures are staggering thanks to China's status as the biggest market with the biggest fans of the video game franchise, as well as heavy investments from Wanda Group, China Film Co. Ltd., Taihe Entertainment, Tencent Pictures and Huayi Brothers Media.

Later this month, "Independence Day: Resurgence," "Finding Dory" and "Now You See Me 2" will jam the month of June, which will surely make it one of the hottest seasons in history. As a result, several Chinese films have to push back their release date to dodge these Hollywood monsters.

"X-Men: Apocalypse" will also face off with "Warcraft" during the Dragon Boat Festival, a three-day holiday from June 9 and 11 this year. During the same period last year, the box office raked in 600 million yuan (US$91.3 million). The time also marks the end of China's college entrance examination and the beginning of summer vacation.

Source: china.org.cn