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Chinese director Zhang Yimou's first spy film Cliff Walkers on Friday beat domestic hit drama Sister and climbed one notch up to rank sixth on China's 2021 box office chart.
The action thriller's cumulative revenue as of early Friday evening hit 860 million yuan (US$133 million), exceeding that of Sister, data from box office tracker Maoyan shows.
The move comes five days after Cliff Walkers overtook romantic drama My Love, the top earner of the May Day holiday moviegoing period that saw a packed lineup of titles.
Set in 1930s Harbin, northeast China, Cliff Walkers follows Communist Party special agents as they test their wits against their enemies to complete a secret mission.
It has been hailed by critics as not only a personal breakthrough for the director in terms of film genre and narrative exploration, but also an expansion and breakthrough for China's new patriotic films.
Friday also saw Maoyan upgrade its prediction for the total revenue of Cliff Walkers from 990 million yuan to nearly 1.03 billion yuan.
Overseas, the movie was released in North America, Australia and New Zealand on April 30, day-and-date with China.
Sister, the dark horse from the Qingming Festival holiday movie period in early April, was helmed by emerging director Yin Ruoxin and stars 20-year-old actress Zhang Zifeng.
It tells the intimate story of a young girl, played by Zhang, who has to choose between pursuing her own dreams and taking care of her little brother after their parents died in a car crash.
