China's summer box office surpasses 10 billion yuan, led by domestic films

BEIJING -- China's summer box office revenue has surpassed 10 billion yuan (about $1.4 billion) as of Monday, with homegrown titles dominating the season's top earners.

According to ticketing platforms Maoyan and Beacon, domestic films currently occupy four of the top five slots.

Leading the charge is "Dead To Rights," a film about the Nanjing Massacre during World War II, which has grossed 2.6 billion yuan since its July 25 release. It is the only summer release to top the 2-billion-yuan threshold so far, and now ranks as the year's third-highest earner overall in China.

Drawing on verified photographic evidence of Japanese wartime atrocities during the Nanjing Massacre, "Dead To Rights" tells the story of a group of Chinese civilians who shelter in a photography studio during the brutal occupation of Nanjing by Japanese aggressors in 1937.

In a desperate bid for survival, they are compelled to assist a Japanese military photographer by developing film, only to discover that the negatives contain damning evidence of atrocities committed by Japanese forces across the city. Determined to expose the truth, they secretly keep possession of the negatives and risk their lives to smuggle them to the outside world.

The film has received a rating of 8.7 out of 10 on review platform Douban and won widespread critical acclaim. Director Feng Xiaoning has hailed it as "a new high point for Chinese cinema," while audiences have described screenings as harrowing yet profoundly moving. "The simplicity and restraint of the storytelling make every scene piercingly poignant," one popular comment on Douban reads.

This year's summer slate has been shaped by the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Alongside "Dead To Rights," themed releases include historical drama "Dongji Rescue" and documentary "Mountains and Rivers Bearing Witness."

"These films tell stories through ordinary people who represent the broader Chinese experience," said Yin Hong, vice-chairman of the China Film Association and a Tsinghua University professor. "Through their fates, their suffering, their struggles and their cries of defiance, the films both denounce atrocities such as the Nanjing Massacre and highlight the moral strength and resilience of everyday Chinese people."

Animation has also been a breakout category. "Nobody," a spinoff from the acclaimed "Yao-Chinese Folktales" animation series, ranks second on the summer chart, raking in more than 1 billion yuan since its Aug 2 release. It has become the highest-grossing two-dimensional animated film ever released in China.

"'Nobody' is a genuine surprise, expanding the space for Chinese animation," Rao Shuguang, president of the China Film Critics Association, said in an interview with Xinhua. "When I watched it in the theater, the kids around me were laughing uncontrollably, stomping their feet with joy... It clearly has room for further revenue growth."

Other strong performers include "The Lychee Road," a bittersweet drama set during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) which has grossed more than 670 million yuan, and "The Legend of Hei 2," the sequel to a 2019 animated hit and now at nearly 450 million yuan. Universal's "Jurassic World Rebirth" is the highest-ranking imported film, currently in fourth place with more than 560 million yuan earned to date.

China's summer moviegoing season runs from June 1 through Aug. 31 and is traditionally one of the country's most lucrative film periods. Analysts note that local hits have revitalized what began as a sluggish season. "The first half of the summer was relatively flat, with imported films outperforming locals," according to Maoyan analyst Lai Li. "But as 'The Lychee Road' and 'Dead To Rights' rolled out, daily box office numbers made a sharp climb. As of Sunday, China's box office has logged more than 30 consecutive days of daily grosses above 100 million yuan."

Beacon analyst Chen Jin added that the number of well-reviewed titles this summer has exceeded past years, with several scoring above 8 out of 10 on Douban. Among them, crime action flick "The Shadow's Edge," released on Aug. 16, is projected to surpass 1 billion yuan.

With just under two weeks left of the season, Chen said the total is on track to exceed last year's summer haul of 11.6 billion yuan, which would keep the industry on track for an annual gross of 50 billion yuan.