The Legend of Hei II, the sequel to the 2019 animated blockbuster, surprised China's box office revenues on Friday when it beat director Jiang Wen's You Are the Best and Da Peng's The Lychee Road.
The three films premiered simultaneously on Friday, intensifying competition in an already heated summer movie season.
In The Legend of Hei II, Luo Xiaohei, a black demon cat who shape-shifts into a young boy, teams up with a young woman named Lu Ye and the elder apprentice of his master, to investigate a complex case. The master is the prime suspect in the mysterious disappearance of a special "weapon" that poses a threat to the safety of the entire demon world.
Gu Jie, who co-directed the film with Mu Tou, revealed that the new movie, which took animators six years to complete, features 10 battle scenes, including one of the biggest in which a superpowered master, one of the strongest in demon society, effortlessly deflects bullets and bombs while breaking into a military base.
The film has grossed over 23 million yuan ($3.2 million) at the box office since its premiere, according to the live industry tracker Maoyan Pro.
