China Box Office: Crime Drama Reclaims Top Spot Amid Slow Fall

Traces of Justice is back on top in China.

The crime procedural earned RMB21.5 million, or $3.2 million, during the three-day period ending Nov. 8. This performance pushed the film’s total earnings to $103.7 million since it opened on Oct. 1. Directed by Chen Sicheng, the movie stars Zhang Yi, Ma Li, Chen Minghao, Karry Wang, Fan Chengcheng, and Chen Feiyu. It follows a public security detective working through complex cases drawn from real history.

Resident Evil dropped to second place after holding the number one spot for a month. The horror reboot collected $3 million in its fifth weekend. Its cumulative total now stands at $76 million since its Oct. 5 release during Golden Week.

Two new local films entered the chart. Embers opened in third place with $2.1 million over two days. Sun Aoqian wrote and directed this road drama, which stars Song Jia as a crematorium worker who mixes up funeral ashes. She travels with the deceased’s daughter, played by Vicky Chen, to return the remains. Zu Feng also appears in the cast.

The Coffin Swap took fourth place with $1.7 million in its two-day debut. He Nian directed this black comedy-thriller based on Chen Lu’s script. The film re-adapts Xin Yukun’s 2014 novel Deep in the Heart. Jiang Wu, Du Guangyi, Gu Xin, Fan Yilin, and Wang Weishuai star in the story about a village in chaos after a charred body is found.

Mr. & Mrs. Pardon finished the top five in sixth position. The body-swap comedy added $1.4 million in its sixth weekend, bringing its total to $61.3 million. Shen Chunyang and Xiao Shenyang star in the satirical feature, which was written by Ma Duo and directed by Shen Chunyang.

The overall mainland China box office shrank to $16.4 million for the weekend. The 2026 year-to-date total reached $4.75 billion, which is 29% lower than the same period in 2025.

Data for these figures comes from Artisan Gateway.