China's Domestic Film Market: Chinese drama 'Looking Up' bests 'The Lion King' at the box office

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"The Lion King" topped the Chinese mainland box office on its opening day earlier this month. The Disney live-action remake dominated theaters during its first week, but was dethroned by the Chinese family drama "Looking Up" which hit cinemas last Thursday.

On July 12th, the highly anticipated film "The Lion King" opened across China and soon topped the box office. It grossed about 76.5 million US dollars in its first week. The new film follows the plot of the Oscar-winning 1994 animation about lion cub Simba, who flees his kingdom after his villainous uncle Scar plots to take his father Mufasa's place as king.

Many rushed to movie theaters eager to see the remake of the old classic.

QIU XIAOMO MOVIEGOER "I saw 'The Lion King' animated film in 2000, and I paid close attention when Disney announced its plan to remake it three years ago. So for me, I have a special feeling towards the animation, 'The Lion King' and I was curious how the director could reproduce the classic with the latest technologies, including Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality."

After one-week's shining performance, "The Lion King" was dethroned by the Chinese family drama "Looking Up" on July 18th, when the film made about 9.2 million US dollars at the box office, practically doubling "The Lion King"'s total on opening day.

The Chinese film continues to top the box office and totaled about 83 million US dollars by the end of Wednesday.

Co-directed by and starring Chinese actor Deng Chao, "Looking Up" follows a Chinese astronaut who, after losing contact with Earth, drifts through space reminiscing about the generosity and educational upbringing he received from his single dad.

DAI YUZHU, MANAGER SHUANGJING UME, BEIJING "I think 'Looking Up's success benefits from good promotion. Actor Deng Chao toured many cities in China to promote the film, and most importantly, the film makes people think what the best way to educate our children would be."

"Looking Up" is one of the few domestic films that went toe to toe with Disney's latest blockbuster.

DAI YUZHU, MANAGER SHUANGJING UME, BEIJING "Overall, foreign films like 'The Lion King' and 'Spider-Man: Far from Home' are the most competitive productions in the summer film market. Even though 'Looking Up' performed well at the box office, it's still less than we expected."

But there's still much to look forward to this summer, as another batch of domestic films including "Ne Zha" and "The Bravest" will soon hit cinemas across China.