China's war film "Assembly" breaks 100 million yuan mark

HONG KONG -- Chinese cinema's second major Christmas release, the war film "Assembly," has surpassed the 100 million Chinese yuan (US$14 million; £á9.4 million) mark at the box office -- the threshold for a big hit -- the film's producer said Thursday.

The result highlights a growing Chinese movie market that can accommodate several big-budget films at the same time.

"Assembly" topped 100 million yuan in about a week, from its opening on Dec. 20 through Wednesday, said Tang Jingting, a spokeswoman with the film's production company, Huayi Brothers.

She said it wasn't immediately clear how much more than 100 million yuan the film had earned.

"Assembly" lacks a big-name cast but turned in a solid performance despite facing off against Hong Kong director Peter Chan's US$40 million (£á28 million) historical epic "The Warlords," which stars Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro.

"The Warlords" opened Dec. 13 and made US$12.2 million (£á8.5 million) in four days on a wider release of more than 1,000 copies issued. Huayi Brothers issued 621 copies of "Assembly," a smaller US$11 million (£á7.6 million) production, Tang said.

China has more than 3,400 screens.

Tang said Huayi Brothers expects "Assembly" to make about 200 million yuan (US$27 million; £á19 million).

However, both "The Warlords" and "Assembly" opened without facing major foreign competition. China often blocks foreign productions from certain time slots in order to boost returns for local movies.

Directed by Feng Xiaogang, one of China's most successful commercial directors, "Assembly" revolves around the heroics of a People's Liberation Army unit during the civil war in the 1940s.