People walk past film posters outside a cinema in Yubei District of Chongqing, southwest China, July 30, 2023. [Xinhua/Chu Jiayin]

BEIJING, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — China's box office revenue generated during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday that ended Friday has exceeded 2.7 billion yuan (about 376 million U.S. dollars), statistics showed.

During the eight-day holiday, some 65.1 million tickets were sold, with domestic productions featuring rich genres emerging as the top dogs.

The National Day holiday, one of the most lucrative period for the film market, normally runs for seven days, but this year it is linked with the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and extended to eight days. A longer holiday not only stimulated moviegoing consumption but also contributed to the recovery of domestic market.

By Thursday, China's box office revenue for 2023 had reached 47 billion yuan, a new record high of annual box office since 2019.

"There were 12 new films set for this year's holiday, which are rich and diverse and well suited to meeting the demands of audiences with different tastes," said Chen Jin, a data analyst with film data platform Lighthouse.

Well-known Chinese director Zhang Yimou's crime suspense movie "Under The Light" led the box office chart with around 883 million yuan in earnings, about 33 percent of the total during the holiday, according to the movie data platform Maoyan.

The film, with a stellar cast of award-winning actors such as Lei Jiayin, Zhang Guoli and Yu Hewei, follows a corruption case in which a municipal official colludes with a businessman in money laundering, murder and other crimes.

"With elements of graft, crime, gangs, and suspense, this film caters to an audience drawn to social topics and with a taste for cold and tough screen aesthetics," said Huang Yongfan, a film practitioner.

"The Ex-Files 4: Marriage Plan," the fourth installment in the "Ex-Files" romantic comedy franchise, ranked second in terms of earnings, grossing around 618 million yuan.

"The Volunteers: To the War," the latest war film by Chen Kaige, secured third spot with an accumulated revenue of 497 million yuan during the holiday period.

Providing a panoramic view of the three-year War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the blockbuster secured a 7.1 out of 10 rating on movie data platform Douban, the highest rating among the three top-grossing films.

A citizen surnamed Zhang from Shanghai took her whole family to the cinema upon hearing the release of the film. "Having listened to my parents talking about that history, I want to bring them back to the past memory and also hope my kids can feel the patriotism," said Zhang.

"Moscow Mission," a crime and action film starring actor Andy Lau, came in fourth with earnings of about 409 million yuan. It was followed by the domestic comedy "Lose To Win," which had pocketed about 105 million yuan by the end of the holiday.

"Excellent films should respond and provide answers to people's concerns and questions in real life, regardless of the themes they focus on or the story backdrops they are set in," said Shi Chuan, vice president of the Shanghai Film Association.

(Source: Xinhua)