A festive film fight

Up to 13 movies are slated for release during the Lunar New Year holiday, a peak time for China's box office, Xu Fan reports. 

The upcoming Spring Festival will turn cinemas across the country into a battleground for supremacy.

Up to 13 films-the largest number during the period to date-will premiere on Feb 5, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Most industry insiders name Stephen Chow's 2013 runaway hit, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, as the game changer. It established Spring Festival as a box-office high season in China.

Last year's Spring Festival holiday saw a nearly 70 percent year-on-year surge in box-office revenues, pushing filmmakers to more enthusiastically contend for screenings during the period this year.

Chow-whose Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons and The Mermaid were the box-office champions in 2013 and 2016, respectively-will return to the competitive season with his directorial film, The New King of Comedy, a remake of his 1999 classic, King of Comedy.