A poster for "Successor." [Photo courtesy of Wanda Pictures]

The Chinese mainland summer box office topped 10 billion yuan (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) over the weekend, with previously released blockbusters such as "Successor" continuing their momentum and several newcomers adding more impetus to the market.

According to ticketing platform data, the accumulated season box office on the Chinese mainland had surpassed the 10-billion-yuan mark by late Saturday night.

All top-three titles were released over a month ago.

"Successor," starring the acclaimed comedic duo Shen Teng and Ma Li, has dominated this year's summer movie season and ranked third on the annual box office chart with a revenue of over 3.1 billion yuan.

With a focus on contemporary parent-child relationships, the film tells the story of a wealthy couple who fabricate a challenging environment for their son to spur his personal growth.

It was followed by director Sam Quah's latest crime thriller "A Place Called Silence," which has generated over 1.3 billion yuan over the summer moviegoing season. The film explores the topic of campus bullying, a significant societal concern that has sparked heated discussions on social media in recent years.

Domestic drama "Moments We Shared," released on June 22, secured the third spot on the seasonal rankings with approximately 500 million yuan in box office earnings.

Marvel Studios' "Deadpool & Wolverine" and Universal and Illumination's animated comedy "Despicable Me 4" came in the fourth and fifth, respectively pocketing 416 million yuan and 381 million yuan.

Several movies chose to hit the silver screen around the traditional Qixi Festival, which is known as Chinese Valentine's Day and fell on Aug. 10 this year, fueling the summer box office further.

Chinese animation "White Snake: Afloat" has grossed 296 million yuan since its release on Qixi. Based on the classic Chinese tale of the White Snake, one of the most popular Chinese folk love stories, it tells the tale of a romance between a young man and a snake spirit that has attained the form of a human woman.

Also released in August were domestic productions "Upstream" and "Decoded," each generating a box office income of over 300 million yuan.

The summer moviegoing period, spanning from June 1 to Aug. 31, is the longest single screening season on the Chinese mainland. In 2023, the summer box office totaled 20.6 billion yuan, underscoring its pivotal role on the annual film industry calendar.

The Chinese mainland's total box office in 2024 has reached 31.8 billion yuan as of Sunday. 

A Chinese poster for "Detective Conan: The Million-Dollar Pentagram." [Image courtesy of China Film Group]

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