The Chinese historical film "The Battle at Lake Changjin" has exceeded 700 million yuan ($108 million) at the box office as of Saturday morning, the second day of China's National Day holiday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan, breaking 11 Chinese film industry records.
A poster of the Chinese historical film "The Battle at Lake Changjin" at a cinema in Beijing, October 1, 2021. (Photo: CFP)
It garnered over $31 million on its debut on September 30, which coincided with China's eighth Martyrs' Day to pay tribute to fallen national heroes. It took in $63 million the next day when the Chinese people celebrated the National Day, the highest ever single-day box office takings during the National Day holidays.
Collectively directed by some of China's best known filmmakers, Chen Kaige, Hark Tsui and Dante Lam, the film features the largest production scale with the largest number of people involved in Chinese film-making history. The cast is led by Chinese actors Wu Jing, Jackson Yee, Zhu Yawen, Li Chen, Hu Jun and Duan Yihong, all household names in China.
The epic follows the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) in a battle during the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953). It recounts the story of CPV soldiers fighting in freezing temperatures in a key campaign around Changjin Lake, or Chosin Reservoir, in the northern part of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 1950.
It has so far scored 7.6 out of 10 points on Douban, the Chinese version of Rotten Tomatoes.
