Photo: VCG

At 2:28 pm on Monday, the box office for this year's summer season in the Chinese mainland surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.39 billion), according to data from online ticketing platform Maoyan. The top five ranking movies were Dead To Rights, Nobody, The Lychee Road, Jurassic World: Rebirth and The Legend of Hei II, with Dead To Rights earning 2.5 billion yuan so far. 

"This year's summer box-office season saw a relatively subdued performance in the first half, with imported films outperforming domestic ones. However, in the latter half, domestic productions gained momentum," Lai Li, a data analyst from Maoyan, told the Global Times on Monday. 

"The release of high-profile movies such as The Lychee Road and Dead To Rights not only reignited market enthusiasm but also boosted daily box-office performance. The 2025 summer season has maintained a daily box-office income exceeding 100 million yuan for 31 consecutive days."

In terms of individual film performance, this year saw a diversity of genres such as historical, drama, and animation gaining significant popularity among audiences.

Dead To Rights has emerged as the only film in the 2025 summer season to cross the 2 billion yuan mark at the box office. The film is based on actual evidence of the crimes the Japanese army committed during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. With historical photos as the foundation, it showcases the resolute resistance of ordinary Chinese people against the atrocities of the Japanese army. 

After being screened in Australia, the US, Canada, and other countries, the movie also sparked widespread resonance among overseas audiences.

For days after watching the film, most viewers find it hard to shake off their emotions. 

"Through the sense of empathy with ordinary people, we feel that even today, we all remain intimately connected to the common folks of that time," Sun Jiashan, a researcher at the Central Academy of Culture and Tourism Administration, told the Global Times on Monday.

As the only documentary movie in the season, Mountains and Rivers Bearing Witness offers a panoramic portrayal of the Chinese people's 14-year struggle during the War, reawakening historical memory through a groundbreaking fusion of digital restoration of historical film materials and artistic reimagining. 

Promotional material for Mountains and Rivers Bearing Witness

Yu Peng, chief director of Mountains and Rivers Bearing Witness, said he hopes to enlighten today's young audiences with an authentic, objective and panoramic view of the history filmed back then. 

"These war-themed movies remind us of the war's brutality and the truth, and urge viewers to cherish and safeguard peace, reflecting upon its enduring relevance in our era," Yu told the Global Times.  

According to Yu, the film crew conducted visits to archival institutions in Russia, Japan and the US, unearthing rare combat footage captured by Soviet film director and war cinematographer Roman Karmen, including close-up shots of soldiers and raw battlefield scenes. 

Beyond historical epics, this year's summer box office has also seen strong popularity for animated and comedy films. The animated movie Nobody, inspired by the story of Monkey King, has currently grossed over 1 billion yuan in ticket sales, breaking China's domestic record for 2D animated films.

As the 2025 summer box office season gradually nears its end, its current performance has nearly matched 2024 summer's overall figure of 11.64 billion yuan. Lai predicted that with a few new releases coming in the next two weeks, they are poised to inject fresh momentum into the summer season's box office with audiences eagerly anticipating to see if they will surpass expectations.