China quake film ‘Aftershock’ sets domestic box office record

China quake film 'Aftershock' breaks domestic box office record

China’s summer blockbuster “Aftershock” (唐山大地震 in Chinese) has broken the box-office record for a Chinese movie in the domestic market, taking in 532 million yuan ($78.6 million) on the mainland since it opened last month.

The film, directed by perennial hitmaker Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚 in Chinese), is a tear-jerker about a family torn apart by the 1976, 7.8-magnitude Tangshan earthquake, which killed more than 240,000 people, and reunited decades later in the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that left more than 85,000 dead or missing.

“Aftershock”, with a budget of US$25 million, quite high by Chinese standards, is also the first Chinese-directed movie to be screened in IMAX theaters.

“Aftershock” has broken the previous record held by Han Sanping and the China Film Group for “Founding of a Republic,” which made about 420 million yuan last year.

Aftershock -- a tale based on the lives of survivors of the 1976, 7.8-magnitude Tangshan earthquake which killed more than 240,000 people

Although little known in the West, Feng one of China’s most commercially successful filmmakers. Since his first film, the 1994 comedy Gone Forever with My Love, Feng has directed a dozen box-office hits, including the comedies “If You Are the One”, about a newly wealthy Beijinger seeking love, and “Big Shot’s Funeral,” along with the Chinese Civil War saga “Assembly.”

Perennial hitmaker Feng Xiaogang's latest film, Aftershock, is based on the Zhang Ling's 2006 novel of the same title.

The highest-grossing movie ever in China is the Hollywood blockbuster “Avatar,” which took in $204 million this year, smashing the previous record held by disaster film “2012.”

“Aftershock” is already released in mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and will continue to roll out in other parts of Asia and the United Kingdom over the next few months. No release date has been set for the film’s debut in the United States.

Trailer for Feng Xiaogang’s blockbuster film “Aftershock”