China's domestic movie market saw a total of 578 million yuan ($90 million) made at the box office in the 50th week of the year, from October 13 to 19, data from the country's online movie ticketing platform Maoyan showed, an over 50 percent rise from the previous week.

The uptick was largely because of the newly-released film "Fireflies in the Sun," a sequel to the 2019 hit movie "Sheep Without a Shepherd." The crime thriller film topped the weekly box office with 354 million yuan, accounting for over 60 percent of the total.

The film was produced by Chen Sicheng, who also helmed the Chinese New Year blockbuster "Detective Chinatown" franchise. It stars Xiao Yang, Janice Man and Simon Yam. Xiao also played the protagonist in "Sheep Without a Shepherd," which recorded 1.3 billion yuan in box office takings.

"Fireflies in the Sun" tells the story of a poor family and a desperate father who works assiduously to collect money for his son's medical operation. Released on December 17, the movie has since been leading the domestic film market. Its ticket sales have surpassed 450 million yuan as of Wednesday, the sixth day of its release.

It was followed by domestic suspense film "Schemes in Antiques" and animation "I Am What I Am," which respectively took in 63 million yuan and 47 million yuan last week.

Meanwhile, another war epic movie commemorating the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953) hit the big screens in China on December 17. "Crossing the Yalu River," produced by China Media Group, ranked fifth last week with nearly 20 million yuan in total box office sales.

The film pays tribute to the Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) army that fought in the war, showing their bravery, patriotism and devotion. It recounts the story from the perspective of CPV commander-in-chief Peng Dehuai and depicts several fierce battles.

Read more: CMG's war epic 'Crossing the Yalu River' premieres in Beijing

(Cover image by Zhu Shangfan)