War movie sequel dominates China’s golden week box office

BEIJING, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — Chen Kaige’s war epic “The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death” continued its reign at the top of China’s box office during the National Day holiday, maintaining its lead for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday.
Starring Zhu Yilong, Xin Baiqing and Zhang Zifeng, the second installment of Chen’s “The Volunteers” trilogy has raked in more than 600 million yuan (85.6 million U.S. dollars), accounting for around 36.7 percent of the holiday’s total box office revenue.
According to movie data platform Maoyan, the film is on track to finish its run with over 1.4 billion yuan, potentially placing it among the top six highest-grossing films in China this year.
The film’s predecessor also found success at the box office, earning 868 million yuan following its release during last year’s National Day holiday.
The lucrative week-long National Day holiday kicked off on Oct. 1, and has been seen as a potential catalyst for a box office rebound following a weaker-than-expected summer season.
The holiday lineup currently features eight new domestic releases, after two films recently withdrew from the competition.
The second and third highest-grossing films to date are Lu Chuan’s sci-fi offering “Bureau 749” and the crime drama “Tiger Wolf Rabbit,” which have earned over 330 million yuan and 282 million yuan, respectively, as of Saturday afternoon. ■