Hotly anticipated films for Spring Festival season

More films on the mainland are entering the race for glory at the box office during the upcoming Spring Festival holidays.

A total of 13 films are prepping to hit the big screen on Feb 5, the first day of Chinese Lunar New Year.

Comedy films are most prominent during this season, followed by animated and science fiction films.

The latest online ticket sales figures from the box office tracker Maoyan show the films have already brought in 10 million yuan ($1.48 million) for the first day of Spring Festival.

Watching a movie is a meaningful way for families to enjoy the holiday, and has become a typical way to celebrate.

The Chinese Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for family gatherings in China. This year's holiday runs from Feb 4 to 10.

In 2018, China's box office sales totaled more than 5.72 billion yuan during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, breaking the previous sales record for the period.

The figure represented a growth of 66.94 percent over the same period last year, according to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

Three blockbusters, including Detective Chinatown 2, Monster Hunt 2 and Operation Red Sea earned more than 3 billion yuan. Operation Red Sea alone grossed 3.65 billion yuan and received critical acclaim, making it the second-highest-grossing Chinese film ever.

Let's take a look at those upcoming films set to take Spring Festival season by storm.