Japanese anime was back on top at China’s box office over the weekend as volleyball movie Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle dominated ticket sales during a downbeat period for moviegoing in the country. Released Saturday, the imported film won the Friday-to-Sunday frame with a $9.8 million debut, according to data from Artisan Gateway. Holdover local youth comedy Be My Friend, from Wanda Pictures, scored second place with $4 million. And Chinese hitmaker Guan Hu’s internationally acclaimed offbeat drama Black Dog, which won the Cannes Film Festival’s Prix Un Certain Regard in May, opened like a niche art house offering, taking in $2.4 million over two days for seventh place. Guan also is competing this week at the Shanghai International Film Festival with an all-new feature, A Man and a Woman, a drama set in Hong Kong during the pandemic.

Haikyuu!! The Dumpster Battle is an adaptation of Japanese artist Haruichi Furudate...