Born in China (???????) is a 2016 nature documentary film directed by Lu Chuan. A co-production between Disneynature and Shanghai Media Group, the film was released in China on August 12, 2016 and in the United States on April 21, 2017, one day before Earth Day. The film focuses on a female snow leopard named Dawa and her cubs, a young golden snub-nosed monkey named Tao Tao, a female giant panda named Ya Ya along with her daughter Mei Mei, and a herd of chiru. The American release of the film is narrated by John Krasinski and the Chinese release is narrated by Zhou Xun.
Born in China | |
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North America release poster | |
Traditional | ??????? |
Simplified | ??????? |
Directed by | Lu Chuan |
Produced by | Roy Conli Brian Leith Phil Chapman |
Screenplay by | David Fowler Brian Leith Phil Chapman Lu Chuan |
Narrated by | John Krasinski (American release) Zhou Xun (Chinese release) |
Music by | Barnaby Taylor |
Edited by | Matthew Meech |
Production companies | Disneynature Shanghai Media Group Chuan Films |
Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Shanghai Media Group (China) |
Release date |
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Running time | 76 minutes |
Country | United States China |
Language | English Mandarin |
Box office | $25.1 million |
Screenplay
This documentary follows four individual animal families-snow leopard, giant panda, chiru and golden snub-nosed monkey and their fortunes in the wilds of China.
Box office
As of June 15, 2017, Born in China has grossed $13.8 million in the United States and Canada and $10.1 million in other territories for a worldwide gross of $23.9 million.
In the United States and Canada, Born in China opened alongside The Promise, Unforgettable, Free Fire and Phoenix Forgotten, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 1,508 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $4.7 million, finishing 6th at the box office.
The film made US$2.3 million on its opening weekend at the Chinese box office. It went on to gross a total of CN¥68 million ($9.9 million) in the country.
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 83% based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. On Metacritic the film has a score of 57 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.