Directed by well-known Chinese director Feng Xiaogang and based on the Tangshan Earthquake in 1976 that took the lives of 240,000 people, the film Aftershock gained a lot of people’s attention. According to Huayi Brothers, the film grossed 36.2 million yuan ($5.3 million) on the day it premiered, July 22, which was 200,000 yuan ($29,500) more than James Cameron's Avatar when it screened in China in January. Aftershock breaks China's box office record in Chinese film industry.