The bittersweet comedy "Hi, Mom" is a dark horse that rides to the second grossing film in China's film history, but who's the biggest winner in the film's success?

With a production cost of around 80 million yuan ($12.3 million), "Hi, Mom" has proved to be one of the most successful films ever in China. It hit the 5 billion yuan mark at the box office within 23 days of release, the fastest income-earner in China's film history. Since then, it has also entered the box office top 100 film list of all time worldwide.

"The top winners, I will say, are the multiple distributors of that movie," said Max Yang, a film industry insider.

He said in some cases, the distributors pay a fixed amount for the rights to show the movie, essentially buying the film from producers for a lump sum and then keep all the box office receipts for themselves. At other times, distributors pay a small fee upfront and then split the box office receipts with the film's production company. 

The "Hi, Mom" producers sold their rights in the film for 1.5 billion yuan, which would leave the distributors with a very tidy share of those box office receipts. 

According to Yang, it all comes down to the fact that movie finance in China is becoming more conservative these days.

"Generally, the industry has been cooling off compared to a few years ago," Yang explained. "People are no longer taking box office success for granted. And I think people understand the reality better."

Yang said the trend will help the film production industry consolidate the position of core players and thus maintain healthy growth.

China's box office kicked off the lunar year in a bullish mode. The China Film Administration said the total box-office takings in the first two months of the year were more than 15 billion yuan, half of which was gained during the Spring Festival holiday.

"Daily receipts for the film have been between 500 and 700 million yuan since the third day of the Chinese Lunar New Year. The theme is appealing to people of all ages, something light for the Spring Festival when families are celebrating reunions," said Lu Ying, a manager at a UME International Cineplex in Shanghai.

It has been more than a month since "Hi, Mom" was released, but enthusiasm for the film is far from fading. The film tells a time-travel story. The main character lost her mother in a car accident and traveled back in time to meet her.

The film's success will likely go beyond China's border. It is now scheduled for release in countries like the U.S., Canada, Britain, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea.