Since premiering on June 24, China’s newest box office hit, Lighting Up The Stars, is well on its way to becoming one of the country’s highest-grossing films this year.
According to Variety, the film earned 31.8 million USD in its first weekend alone — roughly 10 million more than Denis Villeneuve’s Dune brought in during its opening weekend last year. Including revenue from preview screenings the week earlier, Lighting Up The Stars finished its opening weekend with a total take of 37 million USD.
The movie’s strong start is a positive sign that the Chinese film industry is making a comeback after being impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Directed by Liu Jiangjiang, Lighting Up The Stars follows Wu Xiaowen, a little orphaned girl, and Mo Sanmei, an ex-conman turned funeral home worker. After Mo saves Wu, she starts to follow him around, and the two form an unexpected bond bordering on a father and daughter relationship.
Zhu Yilong, who rose to fame after starring as the protagonist in the 2018 boys’ love mystery drama Guardian, plays the male lead, while adorable 9-year-old actress Yang Enyou stars as Wu. Despite it being her first time on the silver screen, the child actress has impressed audiences with her genuine performance.
A promotional poster for Lighting Up The Stars featuring child actress Yang Enyou
Serving as a reminder to cherish life, Lighting Up The Stars has been a hit among audiences, scoring 7.5/10 on the IMDb-like platform Douban. Furthermore, fans have been gushing over the film on the microblogging platform Weibo, where one related hashtag has accumulated more than 2 billion views in a week.
Viewers seem particularly touched by the relationship between the little orphan girl and the ex-conman. Some fans even created fan art of stills from the film.
Audiences adore the relationship between the funeral parlor worker and the little orphan girl in Lighting Up The Stars
Many have said that Lighting Up The Stars induces both laughter and tears.
“It’s super good! It starts as a comedy but then becomes sad and moving. I ended up crying so hard,” reads one Weibo comment.
“What a great film! It’s really eye-catching, healing, and heartwarming. This is the film I have most wanted to see in the past few years,” gushed another netizen.
All images via IMDb
