China's 2021 box office revenue hits 23b yuan

China's 2021 box office revenue exceeded 23 billion yuan (about $3.56 billion) as of May 14.

The number was higher than the total ticket sales for the whole of 2020 at 20.42 billion yuan but lower than 25.87 billion yuan, which was recorded for the period from Jan 1 to May 14, 2019, data from box office tracker Maoyan shows.

Comedian and actress Jia Ling's maiden directorial project Hi, Mom and Wanda Pictures' comedy Detective Chinatown 3 led the box office chart for the period from Jan 1 to May 14 this year, with total earnings of 5.41 billion yuan and 4.52 billion yuan respectively.

Both films hit Chinese theaters on Feb 12 during the Spring Festival holiday.

Hi, Mom is the second-highest grossing film ever at China's box office, outshone only by the 2017 Chinese action-adventure production Wolf Warrior 2 that raked in a total of 5.69 billion yuan.

Nine of the top 10 earners this year at China's box office are domestic productions.

US movie Godzilla vs Kong currently ranks third on the yearly chart, with a total revenue of 1.23 billion yuan.