Neither Private Ryan nor Dunkirk: The Highest-Grossing War Film of All Time Controversially Holds Another Big Record

The film’s release in China is a market that has the potential to save a movie from disaster or exponentially increase the box office numbers of a feature film that was already enjoying success, but recently Hollywood films stopped being as profitable in China as they were a few years ago, when American blockbusters dominated the country’s box office. – who then expressed a special love for action films and big franchises.

However, the trend has changed since 2020 and, moreover, in 2023, not a single American film will be in the top 10 of Chinese grossers: not the new opus of such great sagas as Mission: Impossible 7 or Fast & Furious X, and not even. The big heroes of the year are Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Similarly, in global terms, Asian blockbusters have become a major competitor to Hollywood. Currently, three of the 10 highest-grossing films of the year come from China, albeit in the first months of 2024, ahead of the box office successes of Vice-Versa 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine, among others, with 4 of the top 8. As Espinov recalls, profitable films were Chinese production.

Since then, some Chinese blockbusters have established themselves in the world historical rankings, and this was the case of Heroes – The Battle of Changjin Lake, a 2021 film that broke all records and then became the highest-grossing war film. The world and all time – only this!

With a total of $913 million, the feature film climbed to the top, beating the record holder, another Chinese feature film: Operation Red Sea (2018). The latter did the same in its time, surpassing the previous holder of the title, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper (2015), which until that year was the highest-grossing war film of all time.

American sniperBy collecting 547 million dollars, in turn, he knocked down Private Ryan (1998) and 482.3 million dollars. In 2017, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk came right after that American sniper With its revenue of 530 million dollars.

However, Chinese blockbuster figures have practically doubled compared to American films. Additionally, 2022 saw The Battle at Lake Changjin II come in right after its big brother with its $626.5 million.

what are you talking about

Released in 2021 Heroes – Battle of Changjin Lake is a war film based on real events that became a mass phenomenon in its homeland – a (propaganda) film made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

The action of the epic feature film takes place in the winter of 1950, during the Korean War, and tells how the Chinese soldiers managed to defeat the American army under the command of General MacArthur during the battle of Chosin Reservoir, in the harsh weather conditions, lack of food and a great difference in weapons. They won the bloody battle by blowing up the Shumimen Bridge, resisting American aggression and helping Korea.Their only allies are their iron will and courage“, as we briefly read.

And in addition to being the highest-grossing war film in history, Heroes – Battle of Changjin LakeChen Kai, Dante Lam, and Tsui Hark, is also the highest-grossing non-English language film of all time.

For those interested, Heroes – The Battle at Lake Changjin is available on VOD.