China's Spring Festival blockbusters extend box office run

Chinese blockbuster films that hit the theaters on the Spring Festival, which fell on Feb 12 this year, will see their box office run extend for about a month until late March or mid-April.

Hi, Mom, the maiden directorial project of comedian and actress Jia Ling, and Detective Chinatown 3, the latest installment in Wanda Pictures' Detective Chinatown comedy film franchise, will be available in theaters until April 11 and April 10, respectively, according to the latest announcements.

With a total revenue topping 5.17 billion yuan ($795 million) as of Thursday, tear-jerking Hi, Mom is currently the second highest-grossing film ever screened in China, according to China Movie Data Information Network.

The comedy movie stars Jia as a devoted daughter who, deeply saddened by her mother's accidental death, finds herself transported back to 1981, where she meets her mother and attempts to improve her fate using ideas from the future.

It received the highest rating among all the seven Spring Festival films on review platforms. Box office tracker Maoyan projected it would complete its run with total sales of about 5.3 billion yuan.

Detective Chinatown 3, directed by Chen Sicheng, made it to the fifth spot on China's all-time box office chart, with its cumulative ticket sales coming in at 4.4 billion yuan.

Fantasy thriller A Writer's Odyssey, which generated 985 million yuan, the third-highest revenue among the titles that were released on the Spring Festival, has extended the box office run to April 14.

The screening of comedy-drama Endgame that co-stars singer and actor Andy Lau has also been extended until April 14, while animated fantasy New Gods: Nezha Reborn will continue its box office run until March 28.