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| Blades of the Guardians Overtakes Scare Out as Holiday Box Office Race Heats Up. (Photo: Instagram) |
Blades of the Guardians (鏢人：風起大漠) has officially climbed to No. 2 at the 2026 Lunar New Year daily box office, overtaking key competitors after a rocky opening and an unexpectedly strong rebound driven by audience buzz.
Directed by veteran action master Yuen Woo-ping, the martial arts epic brings together heavyweight names including Wu Jing, Nicholas Tse, Yu Shi, and Jet Li. With such a stacked line-up, expectations were sky-high from day one. But the film’s early numbers told a slightly different story.
On Lunar New Year Day 1, the film opened with 132 million yuan, landing in fourth place on the daily chart. Even more worrying for some industry watchers, its seat occupancy rate was among the lowest compared to the six major holiday releases.
By Day 2, daily earnings slipped further to 98.59 million yuan, fuelling online chatter about whether the film could hold its ground during one of the most competitive cinema periods of the year.
Then the narrative shifted.
As more viewers headed into cinemas, positive word-of-mouth began spreading across social platforms. Audiences highlighted Yuen Woo-ping’s signature fight choreography, calling the combat scenes “clean, intense, and classic.”
Many also praised the film’s expansive desert visuals and grand wuxia atmosphere, describing it as a return to large-scale martial arts storytelling rarely seen in recent years.
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| Sohu |
By Day 3, revenue rebounded to 112 million yuan, allowing the film to surpass Boonie Bears: The Hidden Protector and climb to third place. Momentum continued into Day 4, when it earned 114 million yuan, officially overtaking Scare Out and securing the No. 2 position in the Lunar New Year daily rankings.
Industry trackers have taken note. Major Chinese box office analytics platforms Maoyan and Dengta have now revised their total gross projections upward, estimating the film could finish between 1.24 billion and 1.52 billion yuan if the upward trend sustains.
Some early viewers questioned the film’s pacing, with a few netizens commenting that the opening act felt slower than expected for a high-octane martial arts epic. Others felt the competition during the holiday frame was simply too strong for any one title to dominate immediately.
However, as more screenings rolled out, the tone noticeably changed. Supporters praised the practical stunt work over heavy CGI, applauded the veteran cast’s screen presence, and described the action sequences as “worth the cinema ticket alone.”
A number of fans also expressed nostalgia, saying the film carries the spirit of classic Hong Kong martial arts cinema while upgrading it for modern audiences.
There’s also growing discussion about whether strong word-of-mouth could push the film even higher in the coming days, especially as family audiences and late-holiday moviegoers continue to fill theatres.
The comeback of Blades of the Guardians is another reminder that during the Lunar New Year box office race, first-day rankings don’t always decide the final outcome. Audience reception can quickly reshape the leaderboard, particularly when action-heavy spectacles rely on theatre experience and peer recommendations. With projections now sitting in the billion-yuan range, the film has clearly re-entered the serious contender category. The question is whether it can maintain this pace or even challenge for the top spot as the holiday continues.
What do you think — is this the start of a long-run box office winner, or will the competition tighten again?