‘Afloat’ tops China’s daily box office charts – Xinhua

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinese animation film “White Snake: Afloat” topped the box office on the Chinese mainland on its first release on Saturday, grossing 94.26 million yuan (about 13.19 million U.S. dollars), the China Movie Data Information Network said.

The film is based on the classic Chinese fairy tale of the White Snake, one of the most popular Chinese love stories, which tells the romance between a young man and a snake spirit who has taken the form of a human woman through cultivation. It is the third part of the “White Snake” series and was released on the traditional Qixi festival, Chinese Valentine's Day.

In the film, the two eventually marry, but Fa Hai, a powerful monk who wants to separate the couple, reveals the snake's true identity.

Second place went to the domestic comedy “Successor,” which grossed around 92.9 million yuan that day, bringing the total box office to 2.93 billion yuan after 26 days.

The reality drama “Upstream,” which premiered on Friday, came third on Saturday with sales of 85.35 million yuan.

On Saturday, total box office revenue in mainland China was around 364.2 million yuan. ■