‘Lost in Thailand’ tops ‘Titanic 3D’ in China

The 3-D re-release of James Cameron’s “Titanic” in early 2012 was a worldwide box-office success (though nowhere near the scale of the original 1997 movie’s theatrical run), and it performed best in China. The re-release grossed over $100 million, outperforming even the original’s take in that country.

However, that record has been trumped by an unlikely local movie.

“Lost in Thailand,” a low-budget comedy about two businessmen searching Thailand for their boss, has grossed $160 million since its mid-December debut. That makes it the highest-grossing Chinese film ever and catapults it past “Titanic 3D,” which was the biggest foreign film in China in 2012, according to the Associated Press.

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However, “Lost in Thailand” is still not the highest-grossing movie in Chinese history. That distinction still goes to Cameron, whose blockbuster “Avatar” touched a nerve with the Chinese people (and even borrowed some imagery from the Chinese landscape) and grossed $182 million in 2010.

The previous record-holder for biggest Chinese film was “Painted Skin: The Resurrection,” which grossed $116.5 million in 2012.

Besides being the biggest grossing Chinese movie ever, “Lost in Thailand” also holds the distinction of being the first Chinese film to cross 1 billion yuan in grosses.

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