BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese animated film "Ne Zha" continued leading the Chinese mainland box office Monday, grossing a total of 4.16 billion yuan (about 590 million U.S. dollars) in 25 days since its debut, the China Movie Data Information Network said Tuesday.
Monday saw the feature, already the highest-grossing domestic animated film on the Chinese mainland, earned nearly 54.89 million yuan.
Loosely based on the tale of Nezha, a beloved Chinese mythological figure, the film features a daring overhaul of Nezha's appearance and depicts him more as a mischievous boy than the heroic youngster shown in previous cinematic works.
The Chinese animated film is the fourth franchise raking in over 4 billion yuan on the box office chart covering all the films ever screened on the Chinese mainland, behind only "Wolf Warrior 2," "The Wandering Earth" and "Avengers: Endgame," according to the network.
Apart from receiving an extended run of one month until Sept. 26 in Chinese mainland theaters, the top-grossing domestic animation will also be put on general release in Australia on Aug. 23, in New Zealand on Aug. 29 and in North America on Sept. 6, according to the movie's official Weibo account.
Coming in the second was "The Bravest," a Chinese feature film putting the spotlight on firefighters, which grossed 25.96 million yuan Monday.
Chinese crime film "Bodies at Rest," which focuses on two legal medical experts trapped in a hijacking, was ranked the third by raking in about 14.81 million yuan on its fourth day of screening.
