A scene of The Mermaid.
One month after its release, Stephen Chow's sci-fi comedy "The Mermaid" has set a new box office record in China, earning 3.29 billion yuan, making it the highest-grossing film in China.
The previous record was about 2.4 billion yuan for the locally-made fantasy film "Monster Hunt" and Hollywood action movie "Fast & Furious 7."
China's film market continues to boom with a lot more blockbuster movies in the theaters - both foreign and homegrown productions.
"The 33," a film based on the real events of the 2010 mining disaster, is screening at local theaters with good feedbacks from the audiences. The film tells the story of rescue of 33 miners who were trapped inside the San José Mine in Chile for more than two months.
Chinese Kung fu film "IP Man 3," the third installment of the "Ip Man" film series, has already made more than 440 million yuan in the first three days after its release.
However, the incredibly robust start of the movie has also been questioned by some Netizens that part of the box office receipts were probably not real. Netizens said that it is not common to see the film's seats almost occupied in the daytime screenings of work days like Monday at so many theaters in Beijing.
But the cinemas responded to the reporters of "The Beijing News" that they have no reason to cheat because the film with a big fan base will certainly become a box office sensation. Such screenings, in their words, were reserved for companies which hold group screenings to celebrate the "International Women's Day."
The film has impressed many cinemagoers with a "kung fu vs boxing" fight scenes betweew Donnie Yen and former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. It tells the story of how Ip Man becomes a grand master and the teacher of Bruce Lee.
Films released this month also include Disney animated film "Zootopia" and historical film "Cairo Declaration."
