(Yicai Global) Oct. 8 -- The Battle at Lake Changjin, a film about Chinese soldiers fighting American troops during the Korean War, has become one of the top 10 grossing films at the Chinese box office, accounting for 70 percent of all takings during the seven-day National Day holiday that ended yesterday.

Ticket sales for the Battle at Lake Changjin came to almost CNY3.2 billion (USD496.3 million) between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7, movie data platform Maoyan said yesterday. The war epic has broken 16 records so far, including the best single-day hauls for both a war film and a historical movie.

The war theme is in line with the National Day holiday, which celebrates the formal establishment of the People’s Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949 after many decades of war and upheaval, according to Zhang Rongdi, an industry analyst at TechWeb. A movie that has a connection with the popular mood will attract viewers.

The great reviews ensured the movie’s high popularity and high box office takings, he added. The Battle of Lake Changjin has been given a score of 7.6 on movie review platform Douban, higher than 60 percent of historical war films. And its daily ticket sales climbed to CNY513 million (USD79.6 million) on Oct. 6 from CNY410 million on Oct. 1, while its screen share grew to 78.9 percent on Oct. 7 from 65.2 percent on Oct. 1.

My Country, My Parents came second with takings of CNY962 million over the holiday week while Little Canned Men came third with nearly CNY41.7 million. Most cinema-goers were in the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, according to Maoyan.

Editor: Kim Taylor