As of 12 noon on Saturday, the second day for Chinese film pre-sale during Spring Festival, nine blockbusters have achieved pre-sale of 100 million yuan ($15.56 million), according to ticketing platform Maoyan.

Among them, Detective Chinatown 3, which was scheduled to be shown in the 2020 Chinese Spring Festival holidays but was postponed due to the COVID-19 epidemic, was far ahead with 74.694 million yuan. The runner-up and third place were Chinese comedy film "Hi, Mom," with 12.997 million yuan in advance sales, and Chinese action film "A Writer's Odyssey," with 4.54 million yuan.

Detective Chinatown 3, directed by Chen Sichen, becomes the most anticipated film for Chinese moviegoers this year. Over four million people said they wanted to watch the film, which will be screened from February 12, Maoyan noted.

The outstanding performance of China's box office during the three-day New Year's holidays showed strong demand for watching films. The box office in the Chinese mainland hit 1.28 billion yuan, creating a record high during the same holidays.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the box office during the 2020 Spring Festival totaled only 23.57 million yuan.

(With input from Global Times)