China breaks box office records during Spring Festival holiday

BEIJING — Box office takings on the Chinese mainland during the Spring Festival holiday have broken records, with the tally surpassing 6 billion yuan (over $931 million) on the evening of Feb 15, according to China Film News.

Over 122 million tickets have been sold since the beginning of the weeklong Spring Festival holiday starting on Feb 11, read the report, quoting professional box office tracker Dengta Data.

Chinese comedy hits Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom ruled the holiday box office, and fantasy thriller A Writer's Odyssey took third place.

More than 34 million tickets were sold on Feb 12, the first day of the Lunar New Year, bringing in a box office revenue of 1.7 billion yuan. Both figures were the highest in China's film history.

The weeklong Spring Festival holiday is usually a busy moviegoing period in China. People have been more eager to go to cinemas this year as millions of Chinese have avoided travel and stayed put for the Spring Festival in response to the government's call to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection during the travel rush.