Epic war drama among top grossers of all time at China box office

Epic war drama The Eight Hundred, with a total China box office nearing 3 billion yuan (about $442 million) to date, has become one of the highest-grossing films of all time in China.

The film had raked in more than 2.91 billion yuan as of Monday, ranking the ninth on the box office chart covering all films ever screened on the Chinese mainland, showed data compiled by the China Movie Data Information Network.

The 2017 blockbuster Wolf Warrior 2 topped the chart with 5.69 billion yuan.

Directed by Guan Hu, The Eight Hundred depicts Chinese soldiers' heroic fight against the invading Japanese army from inside a warehouse during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937.

It continued to smash records at the box office since its release in China on Aug 21, about one month after theaters reopened in the world's second-biggest box-office market following months of closure due to the COVID-19 epidemic.