The just-concluded National Day holiday saw a recovery for the film industry in China, as the total domestic box office soared past 3.95 billion yuan ($585 million) from October 1 to 8, according to China movie Data Information Network.  

In the past weekend, the total China box office hit $68 million, once again far surpassing sales in North America, where cinemas earned less than $9.5 million, according to Variety's report. 

The patriotic film "My People, My Homeland" leads box office, grossing 2.15 billion yuan ($318.6 million) as of October 11, the first Sunday after the holiday, and tops the box office since October 3. It surpassed Hollywood's "Sonic the Hedgehog," became the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year globally. 

The movie demonstrates the extent to which China's market has recovered in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the rapidly development of domestic film productions.

Focusing on poverty alleviation and patriotism, this anthology consists of five different stories directed by seven renowned Chinese directors and filmmakers, including Xu Zheng (Lost in Russia), Deng Chao (Shadow), Chen Sicheng (Detective Chinatown 3), Yu Baimei(The Breakup Guru) and Ning Hao(Crazy Alien). The movie is rated 7.3 of 10 at Douban, a leading Chinese film rating website. 

Animated film "Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification" is the second-highest earning film in the past week, grossing 1.45 billion yuan ($21.5 million) since released. It also broke the first-day box office record for a Chinese animated film, setting a new record for the industry. 

In third place was the Chinese sports drama "Leap," which focuses on the Chinese women's national volleyball team and starring A-list actress Gong Li. As of Sunday, "Leap" has grossed 639 million yuan ($94.7 million), according to data from Maoyan, a movie-ticketing and film-data platform.

Many high-anticipated films will hit the cinema in the upcoming weeks. Screened at Shanghai International Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival this year, the biographical film "Like the Dyer's Hand" will be officially released on October 16.

Adapted from the acclaimed novel of the same name, "The Story of Xi Bao" will also be released on Friday.

As moviegoers go back to the cinemas and more blockbusters are released, the China box office is poised to surpass the U.S. as the world's largest film market in 2020. 

(Cover image designed by Du Chenxin)