ELEVEN films are set to hit cinemas during the May Day holiday (May 1-5). The ticket pre-sales during the holiday had surpassed 30 million yuan (US$4 million) as of Monday morning, with “Formed Police Unit,” China’s first film based on China’s peacekeeping police, topping the highest-grossing pre-sale list, according to Chinese ticketing platform Beacon. Film insiders and analysts predicted that the total box office of the film season will reach 1.3 billion yuan. Traversing multiple genres, the 11 films cover action, suspense, comedy, animation, and romance. Zhang Tong, a senior data analyst at ticketing platform Maoyan, said the new releases have their own unique characteristics and corresponding audiences. He added that some films are relatively close in pre-sale earnings, and the final box-office performance will still depend on the subsequent promotional reach and post-screening word-of-mouth. “Formed Police Unit,” starring leading Chinese mainland actors Wang Yibo and Huang Jingyu, is the first commercial film focusing on China’s peacekeeping polices overseas. It tells the story of China’s peacekeeping police officers undertaking a mission, traveling to foreign countries, and carrying out tasks in war-torn areas. Media sources reported that, to present the real experiences of Chinese peacekeeping police in the mission area, the production team referenced a large quantity of documentary materials, crafting the scenes, props and environment as close to reality as possible. Action film “Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In,” which was shortlisted for the Cannes Film Festival, brings together Hong Kong actors, including Louis Koo and Sammo Hung. The plot follows troubled youth Chan Lok-kwun as he accidentally enters the Kowloon Walled City, discovers the order amid its chaos, and learns life lessons along the way. According to Maoyan, the most-anticipated films are Japanese animated films “Howl’s Moving Castle,” the classic work from mega animator Hayao Miyazaki, and “Spy x Family Code: White,” an animated spy action comedy film released in Japan in 2023. (Global Times) | 