Photo: Chen Tao/GT

As of Sunday, the film Evil Unbound had grossed over 1.2 billion yuan ($168.7 million) just four days after release. The film topped China's daily charts for three consecutive days in ticket sales, admissions, attendance rate, and presales, according to data from box-office tracker Maoyan. Its total box-office forecast has now been raised to 1.689 billion yuan.

On Saturday, the film's screenings rose to more than 310,000 nationwide, making it the first in Chinese film history to surpass 300,000 daily screenings. That day it also earned 410 million yuan at the box office, becoming the third film in 2025 to cross the 400-million mark in a single day, after Ne Zha 2 and Detective Chinatown 1900.

The 125-minute movie highlights the atrocities suffered by the "Maruta" (the term the Japanese army used to call its human experimentation subjects) from the perspective of civilians. The shocking scenes put on full display the crimes against humanity committed by the Japanese biological and chemical warfare research unit known as Unit 731.

Zuo Heng, a researcher at the China Film Archive, told the Global Times on Sunday that the box-office success of Evil Unbound shows how such a heavy historical subject can resonate emotionally with audiences.

"When it comes to films on historical wars, creators bear not only market pressure but also cultural and ethical responsibilities," he said.

"Involving professional historians in the production and linking the work with exhibitions or archival materials could ensure historical accuracy while giving the public a richer, more nuanced perspective on past events," he noted.

The audience response to Evil Unbound has been reflected at the box office. China's box office generated 458 million yuan nationwide on Saturday, the first time that single-day revenue has topped 400 million yuan since the Spring Festival holidays. This total was also 21 percent higher than the summer peak on August 3. 

As of Saturday, the September box office had reached about 1.908 billion yuan, surpassing the full-month total of September 2024 (1.456 billion yuan). The year-to-date box office now stands at nearly 41.2 billion yuan, continuing to widen its lead over 2024, according to data from Sina Finance. The strong performance  has so far set the stage for upcoming holiday releases.

Two new films, Deafening and The ­Return of the Lame Hero, have recently ­announced release dates for the upcoming 2025 National Day holidays. According to box-office platform Maoyan's release calendar, a total of 14 films are currently scheduled for the holiday period.

By Sunday afternoon, over 1.2 million users on Maoyan had marked National Day releases, which cover genres including war, fantasy, suspense, comedy and family animation as "want to see." At present, the top three on the real-time popularity list are The Volunteers: Peace at Last, A Writer's Odyssey 2, and Row to Win.

Directed by Chen Kaige and starring Zhang Zifeng, Song Jia, and Xiao Yang, The Volunteers: Peace at Last is the concluding chapter of The Volunteers trilogy. It focuses on the final phase of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), from the Fifth Campaign through the signing of the armistice agreement, highlighting the strategy of "fighting while negotiating."

A Writer's Odyssey 2, directed by Lu Yang and written by Li Zelin, features Deng Chao and Dong Zijian in leading roles, with Lei Jiayin in a special appearance and Xin Zhilei in a guest role. The film is the sequel to the 2021 fantasy action film A Writer's Odyssey.

Produced by Han Han, Row to Win stars Huang Bo, Fan Chengcheng, and Yin Tao. The film tells the story of a once-powerful gang leader who returns home in a wheelchair, only to be confronted by his son's soul-searching question, "Are you sick?" Together with a tough mother, a sister, and a great-grandmother, three generations unite to face the trials of life.

Wang Yaxuan, a film critic on media review platform Douban, told the Global Times on Sunday that this year's National Day release slate is not just a contest over box office and screening slots, but also an interaction of different narrative forms.

"Creative works following different paths come together in the same release window, not only meeting audiences' diverse viewing expectations, but also reflecting the expanding possibilities of narrative and expression in Chinese cinema," Wang said.

"From a broader perspective, the diversity of this year's National Day slate shows that Chinese cinema is gradually moving beyond the old model of relying on one or two blockbusters to carry the holiday period," she noted.