The Most Successful Asian Films of 2018

by Ceki, January 6, 2019

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Hi, guys! Another year has passed so here's the list of the highest-grossing Asian films of 2018 (according to official sources). If you haven't watched them yet, make sure to at least check them out!

Note: Animated films have been excluded on purpose.

CHINA

Operation Red Sea follows a commando force from the Chinese navy that intercepts terrorists and rescues Chinese citizens in Yemen. ($575,849,199)

Detective Chinatown 2: the detective duo Tang and Qin team up again to hunt down the killer--this time with some help from the International Detective Alliance. ($541,406,438)

Dying to Survive: A story on how a small drug store owner became the exclusive selling agent of a cheap Indian generic drug against Chronic Granulocytic Leukemia in China. ($451,176,639)

HONG KONG

Project Gutenberg: The Hong Kong police are hunting down a money counterfeiting gang led by a mastermind code-named "Painter". In order to crack the true identity of "Painter", the police recruits gang member Lee Man to unmask "Painter's" secret identity. ($4,328,060 )

Men on the Dragon: A group of four telecommunications employees at Pegasus Broadband, headlined by Francis Ng in his most charming role in recent memory, begrudgingly join the company dragon boat team hoping such a pledge of loyalty will keep them immune from encroaching layoffs. ($1,210,709)

Golden Job: A group of mercenaries come together to pull off an epic heist. ($1,122,198)

THAILAND

Nakee 2 is the story of “Sroy,” a young girl who was born and lived in Don Mai Pah Village, in the northeastern region of Thailand. Villagers believe that Sroy is a psychic medium. Even Inspector Pongprap who never believed in mysterious and supernatural beings is also uncertain about the allegations. So he decides to find out the truth behind all those mysterious crimes in Don Mai Pah Village. ($12,568,307)

Brother of the Year: Jane doesn’t want this love to be ruined by her big brother again. But love is not a secret. Chad eventually finds out that Jane is secretly dating Moji. How could Chad give them the green light? Whatever makes Jane happy, a decent big brother like Chad will definitely never let it happen! ($7,407,408)

Homestay: This film stars Teeradon Supapunpinyo as a spirit who gets to inhabit the body of Min, a teenager who recently committed suicide, and bring him back to life. He must find out the reason for Min's death in 100 days, or die permanently. ($3,673,345)

JAPAN

Code Blue: The Movie: The 'helicopter doctor' team is back with perfect hair, perfect skin and perfect bodies and are ready to take on expected and unexpected disasters and accidents at Japan's Narita airport and points near and far. They work together through these professional emergencies and deal with personal calamities in and out of their blue uniforms too. ($84 million)

Shoplifters: Somewhere in Tokyo, Osamu Shibata and his wife Nobuyo live in poverty. While Osamu receives occasional employment and Nobuyo has a low-paying job, the family relies in large part on the grandmother's pension. As he is shoplifting for groceries with his son, Shota, they discover Yuri, a homeless girl. Osamu takes her home, where the family observes evidence of abuse. Despite their strained finances, they informally adopt her. ($41 million)

Gintama 2: Rules Are Meant To Be Broken: The Yorozuya need money to pay their rent. They decide to do several small jobs, but in each place, they meet the Shogun. Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi is facing divisions. The internal conflict of special forces is linked to shenanigans that involve the Shogun. ($33 million)

South Korea

Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days: Hae Won Maek, Gang Rim, and Duk Choon are about to take part in Soo Hong’s trial. These 3 angels of death meet 'God of House', who remembers their past thousand years. Traveling between this world, the next world, and the past, the angels of death try to find answers. ($90,772,222)

The Great Battle: In 645AD, the Tang Dynasty’s emperor Li starts his invasion into Goguryeo, one of the ancient kingdoms of Korea. One victory after another, the Tang army marches into Ansi, protected by General Yang, the lord of the fortress. Abandoned by his country and outnumbered by thousands, the brave general gathers his men and women to face the Tang army on his own. ($41,016,353)

Intimate Strangers: A remake of the famous Italian film, the story is about four friends who meet for the first time in a long time who play a game that reveals each other's secrets. ($39,475,943)

The Philippines

The Hows of Us: follows the story of couple Primo and George who are in a long-term relationship and are already building and planning their future together. Their love will be put to the test as their relationship faces hurdles - from misunderstandings to different career paths, among others. How will they save their "us"? ($14,708,732)

Exes Baggage: After a chance encounter, Pia and Nix instantly hit it off. Natural conversations eventually develop into deep attraction. Despite their wounds from previous relationships, both decide to take a chance on each other. But when their love blossoms into a relationship, their differences will test their love and will make them question: are they ready for love when they're still carrying baggage from their past? ($3,929,450)

Sid and Aya: Not a Love Story: Sid is a man who suffers from insomnia. He meets a girl, Aya, and hires her to accompany him in his sleepless nights. ($3,052,000)

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Sources: boxofficemojo, wikipedia, aramajapan