10 highest-grossing films in China in 2018

By Zhang Rui: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, January 14, 2019

3. Dying To Survive

As China's "Dallas Buyers Club" meets "Schindler's List," as described by some film critics, Wen Muye's "Dying to Survive" is a miracle not just as a critically-applauded triumph but also a great box office success. And it was a game changer with some art power to eventually trigger some improvement for Chinese society and government policies on imported medicine and medical insurance. Based a phenomenal true story reflecting China's medical reform and progress since the early 21st century and using dark humor, the film portrays the struggle for survival of leukemia patients who resort to asking a drug dealer to smuggle unapproved, cheap drugs from India into China. "Dying To Survive" marks the absolute triumph for the realistic drama genre and it became the 5th highest-grossing film of all time in China. "Dying to Survive" also has rave reviews and on the film review site Douban.com, the film's rating stands at 9/10 based on nearly a million reviews from users – the highest score for a domestic-made film in over a decade. Only a few films in Chinese history have ratings above 9.0 on the review website such Chen Kaige's "Farewell My Concubine" (1993) and Jeffrey Lau's "A Chinese Odyssey Part Two - Cinderella" (1995). Even newbie director Wen and his team have never imagined "Dying to Survive" could reach such heights and achieve real durability; however, this film should also give credit to the trust and support of two big comedy filmmakers, Xu Zheng (who produced and starred in the film) and Ning Hao, who have been trying to discover and help new directing talents and good screenplays.

Release date in China:July 6, 2018 (Dirty Monkey, Joy Leader, Huanxi Media, Beijing Culture, etc.)

China gross:3.1 billion yuan (US$453.24 million)

Worldwide:US$453.24 million