Moviegoers watch the Chinese film and Korean War epic "The Battle at Lake Changjin" at a cinema in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China, October 6, 2021. /CFP
Patriotic Chinese blockbuster "The Battle at Lake Changjin" on Friday, became this year's highest-grossing film worldwide, outpacing the Chinese comedy "Hi, Mom," according to the American movie-tracking website Box Office Mojo.
The historical epic depicting the story of Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) soldiers fighting the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) has raked in a whopping total of 5.41 billion yuan ($840 million) in its month-long release, data from China's movie ticketing platform Maoyan showed on Saturday morning.
It is currently the second highest-grossing film in the Chinese film history after "Wolf Warrior 2," an action movie directed by and starring martial arts expert, Wu Jing, which recorded 5.69 billion yuan ticket sales in 2017.
A sequel to 'Lake Changjin' in the works
"The Battle at Lake Changjin" is set to have a sequel literally known as "Water Gate Bridge," with the return of stars Wu Jing, Jackson Yee and other principal members of the original cast.
The news, released on Thursday evening by the movie's social media account, soon made headlines, generating more than 520,000 reposts on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo.
The sequel follows the CPV soldiers taking on a new task and this time their battlefield is a crucial bridge on the retreat route of American troops. It will be helmed by the same directors as the first one – Chen Kaige, Hark Tsui and Dante Lam.
Its release date is yet to be announced.
(With input from Xinhua)