Chinese historical film '1921' outperforms Hollywood at box office

Chinese historical drama film 1921 had a stunning box office debut on Thursday, raking in 81.45 million Yuan or $13 million, reported China Movie Data Information Network.

1921 was accompanied on its opening day by another Chinese historical film The Pioneer which managed to rake in 15.6 million Yuan ($2.4 million). Both the films serve as a 100th-anniversary tribute to China’s ruling Communist Party.

The opening-day figures for 1921 mean that the film has effectively outperformed pandemic-era releases from Hollywood including Disney’s Cruella, A Quiet Place Part II, and Peter Rabbit 2, said Variety; the Chinese historical film raked in nearly eight times more than Cruella in China.

The film was produced under the banner of Tencent Pictures and co-directed by Huang Jianxin and Zheng Dasheng. It stars popular young Chinese celebs, including Huang Xuan as Li Da, Wang Ren Jun as Mao Ze Dong, Jerry Li as Li Da Zhao, Ni Ni as Wang Hui Wu, Turbo Liu as Liu Ren Jing, and Leon Zhang as Zhou Fu Hai among others.