Chinese box office hits 4.6 bln yuan during Spring Festival

China's domestic box office has exceeded 4.6 billion yuan (around 725 million USD) through the first five days of the Chinese Lunar New Year, breaking the sales record for the same period, reports CRI Online.

China's box office pulled in nearly 1.3 billion yuan (around 200 million USD) on Friday, Lunar New Year's Day, registering an over 50 percent increase year-on-year. This is said to be a world record for single day sales in a country, according to Maoyan, a popular film database in China.

Chinese filmgoers queue up to buy tickets for "Monster Hunt 2" in Yichang, central China's Hubei province, Lunar New Year's Day, February 16, 2018. [Photo: IC]

A total of seven new films hit China's screens during the Spring Festival holiday, covering diverse genres such as comedy, action, suspense and animation.

Domestic fantasy "Monster Hunt 2" topped the box office through the first five days of the Spring Festival, earning 1.5 billion yuan. Second place has gone to "Detective Chinatown 2."

Heading to the theatre has become a tradition during the Spring Festival celebrations in China. Much like in North America during holiday period there, film producers in China tend to roll out their top products during the Spring Festival.