A poster released on the official Weibo account of the film Dead to Rights announces that it will represent the Chinese mainland in the competition for Best International Feature Film

On Friday, the official Weibo account of the film Dead to Rights announced that the film is to represent the Chinese mainland in the competition for the Best International Feature Film at the 98th Oscars. "Thank you to every viewer who stepped into the cinema. Let the world see, let us remember," the post reads.

The 98th Academy Awards is scheduled to take place on March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025.  A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to be announced on December 16, 2025, with the final five nominees announced on January 22, 2026, according to Screen Daily.

According to data from the online ticketing platform Maoyan, the film Dead to Rights box office has already surpassed 3 billion yuan as of Friday.

Adapted from the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, a WWII atrocity as searing as it is under-remembered in the West, Dead to Rights was released to mark the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and the World Anti-Fascist War. Its impressive debut — with a high score of 8.5/10 on Chinese review platform Douban and a staggering opening-day gross of over 155 million yuan ($21.67 million) — signals more than just a box-office phenomenon.

The film's bid to compete at the Oscars has garnered attention on Chinese social media, with the related webpage receiving more than 8.6 million views on Sina Weibo. Some Chinese netizens commented that the world should watch the movie and that it is even more important to let more people know historical truth.

Global Times