Chinese crime drama "Sheep Without a Shepherd" took the domestic box office crown during its opening week, grossing more than 218 million yuan (31.13 million U.S. dollars). 

The film hit theaters across the country last Friday, beating other newly released films, such as "Sky Fire,"  "Downton Abbey," and even "Jumanji 2: The Next Level."

In second place was big-budget disaster film "Sky Fire," which was released on December 12 and raked in about 140 million yuan (about 20 million U.S. dollars).

Directed by veteran British filmmaker Simon West, "Sky Fire" tells the story of people who get caught in a volcanic explosion and stars Chinese actor Wang Xueqi, Chinese-Australian actress Hannah Quinlivan, Chinese-Canadian Shawn Dou and Britain's Jason Isaacs.

Despite its expensive production and global cast, the film received mixed reviews as many questioned the logic of some of the plot, describing it as a "popcorn movie." It currently has a scored of 4.8 out of 10 points on Douban.com, China's Rotten Tomato-like film rating website.

The Dwayne Johnson-led Hollywood blockbuster "Jumanji 2: The Next Level" came in third place with a gross of 96.13 million yuan (13.73 million U.S. dollars), followed by domestic melodrama "Gone With The Light" and Palme d'Or nominee "The Wild Goose Lake" with 58.9 million (8.4 million U.S. dollars) and 58.4 million yuan (8.3 million U.S. dollars) respectively in box office earnings.

Malaysian director Sam Quah helms "Sheep Without a Shepherd." The film is the Chinese remake of the 2013 Malayalam thriller "Drishyam," which has been remade in several Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.

The film depicts a suspenseful and sinister story of a father trying to cover up his daughter's crime of manslaughter following a struggle between the family and the police.

Set in Thailand, "Sheep Without a Shepherd" is Quah's first feature film and stars multi-award-winning Chinese actress Joan Chen, actor Xiao Yang and actress Tan Zhuo.

Aside from the stunning box office performance, the film is also receiving strong reviews, with many calling it "an unmissable picture this winter" and "the best domestic crime drama this year."

"Sheep Without a Shepherd" has a score of 9.5 on Maoyan.com and 9.3 on Taopiaopiao.com – two of China's leading movie ticketing websites. It got 7.7 on Douban.com.

The film is regarded as a social fable, in which laws don't work and justice is hard to achieve. Renowned actress Joan Chen showcases her extraordinary acting chops in her portrayal of a high-ranking local police official and bereaved mother who has lost her son.

"The confrontation between two families about a scam actually reflects the conflict between two classes, depicting a social fable. The actors playing key roles, especially Xiao, Chen and Tan, delivered impressive performances, presenting the complexity of each role," reads one of the most popular short reviews by Douban user Xu Ruofeng.

"Sheep Without a Shepherd" fever quickly spread on social media following its release, with the film's Chinese title "Wusha" soon becoming one of the hottest hashtags on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo, accumulating more than 550 million views to date.

A lot of big sequels and potential blockbusters are set to open in theaters nationwide this coming weekend and the following week, offering a handful of options to head out to watch on Christmas Day.

Among them, the most highly anticipated is "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" – the ninth installment and final movie of the epic sci-fi franchise, which will be released on Wednesday, December 18.

With more than 9.2 billion U.S. dollars in ticket sales, the "Star Wars" series, following the celebrated Jedi master, is the second-highest-grossing movie franchise of all time.

Many Chinese fans are expected to head to the theaters to watch the closing chapter of the epic galaxy movie.

Chinese biographical martial art franchise "Ip Man," starring celebrated actor and martial artist Donnie Yen, will also release its fourth and final installment on Friday.

The film is based on the life of Yip Man, or Ip Man, a martial arts master best known for teaching the Wing Chun form, whose most famous student is Bruce Lee.

Renowned Chinese filmmaker Feng Xiaogang's latest work "Only Cloud Knows," which tells touching love stories based on the director's personal experience, opens on the same day.

(Cover image by Du Chenxin)