New film brings Zhang home

It was no surprise when Zhang Yimou's latest film Coming Home raked in 82.4 million yuan (about $13.47 million) at the box office on its opening weekend.

The highly anticipated drama made 30 million yuan on May 16, an opening-day record for a Zhang movie, according the film's production company Le Vision Pictures.

Critics predict the film will earn between 200 million and 300 million yuan, which may be a record for an arthouse film in China. Zhang has seldom had to worry about the box office with films such as Hero (2002) grossing 250 million yuan, the highest ever in the country.