Fireworks at box office greet Year of the Snake
Riding a wave of blockbusters, the Spring Festival holiday — the country's most lucrative box office season — set a record on Monday as the highest-grossing in history for the holiday period.
As of 9:30 pm on Monday, the Year of the Snake — which began on Jan 29 — saw ticket receipts for all six new movies, including presale revenues, reach 8.5 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), surpassing the total of last year's Spring Festival, the previous record holder, according to Maoyan Pro and Beacon, two major industry trackers.
Topping the festival charts is Ne Zha 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the animated blockbuster Ne Zha. The special effects-laden movie, which reimagines the adventures of the titular hero, a renowned mythological figure, as he teams up with the son of a dragon king to thwart a cunning scheme, has grossed over 4.1 billion yuan.
