Rom-com 'The Continent' rules China's box office

Poster of writer-turned-director Han Han's "The Continent". (Photo/Chinanews.com)

"The Continent," a romantic comedy by writer-turned-director Han Han, took 300.8 million yuan (about $48.4 million) in the week ending July 27 to become the weekly box office champion.

"The House That Never Dies," a horror which tells the story of a haunted mansion in Beijing, was second, taking in 172 million yuan, the China Film News reported on Tuesday.

The horror was closely followed by domestic drama "Tiny Times 3," which pulled in 155 million yuan. The movie, which was inspired by author-turned-director Guo Jingming's young adult novel of the same name, topped the box office in the previous week.

"Transformers: Age of Extinction," the fourth installment in the robot movie franchise, earned 79 million yuan, ranking fourth on the charts, according to the report.

Rounding up the top five list was domestic cartoon "The Magical Brush," which earned 30.1 million yuan.