China rewrites single-day box office record

BEIJING - China's box office raked in 802 million yuan ($117 million) on Saturday, Lunar New Year's Day, setting a record for a single day.

Box office takings on Saturday, the second day of a holiday week in China, broke the record of Feb 8, 2016 when the box office reached 660 million yuan, according to cinema ticket sales website Maoyan.com.

Director Stephen Chow broke his own box office record with "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back," sequel to the 2013 hit film "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons."

Chow's new film gathered 356 million yuan on its opening day, putting it as the biggest single day for China's homemade movies. The previous film holding the record was "The Mermaid", a 2016 film by Chow, which made 270 million yuan on its premiere.

The biggest opening day for a film in China is still headed by the Hollywood smash "Furious 7," which grossed 401 million yuan on its debut in 2015.

"Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back" topped ticket sales with its box office surpassing 728 million yuan as of Monday evening, followed by Jackie Chan's Kung Fu Yoga, which also debuted on Lunar New Year and grossed 385 million yuan, the Maoyan.com said.

China's box office in 2016 reached 45.7 billion yuan, up 3.7 percent.