Surprise winners at the Chinese box office

"The movie, in some sense, is a kind of entertaining product. The booming industry has become more and more market-oriented. We've done research on the possible number of fans turning to ticket-buyers by taking analysis on the big data," says the former movie-marketing veteran, who adds that similar-themed movies' success in the recent years also convinced producers in general.

Since top actress Zhao Wei's directorial debut, So Young, took in a record 726 million yuan in 2013, youth-themed movies have emerged as a favorite genre for major film studios. Such nostalgia resonates with the mainstream moviegoers, who were born in the 1980s and 1990s.

The following blockbusters include the Tiny Times franchise (earning around 1 billion yuan for the three installments), and The Continent (grossing 650 million yuan) respectively directed by best-selling novelists-turned-directors Guo Jingming and Han Han.

When Fleet of Time, starring Canadian Chinese star Eddie Peng Yuyan, topped last December's box office by hitting 578 million yuan, the youth-themed movies soared to a major attraction for investors.

"The youth-themed movies have made a wave in the market in recent years. But the genre will definitely get boring for moviegoers. I just can't estimate when this golden time will come to an end," Huang says at a high-end forum during the 5th Beijing International Film Festival.

The Left Ear, though cast with starlets, is winning moviegoers for its adaption of Rao Xueman's 2006 namesake best-selling novel, and its director Alec Su.

Su, 42, was among the earliest Taiwan stars to become popular in the Chinese mainland, for his musical career in Taiwan's first-ever boy band Little Tigers. The handsome star drew more notice for his noble role in the 1997 hit TV series My Fair Princess.