Film spotlighting China's organized crime crackdown joins May Day screening

Break Through the Darkness, a crime action tentpole telling the story of China's fight against organized crime, is set to join the already packed lineup for screening during the May Day holiday.

Starring Jiang Wu and Zhang Songwen, the film is based on real-life cases, according to an announcement made on Wednesday via social media. It is slated for release on May 1.

The five-day May Day holiday starting on May 1 is usually a busy movie screening season in China. April 30, a Friday, and May 1, together will see the release of more than a dozen films, all domestic productions, according to the schedule already disclosed by film data platforms.

Among them are My Love, a romance film from Enlight Pictures; crime thriller Home Sweet Home, which stars singer-actor Aaron Kwok, as well as 20-year-old Zhang Zifeng, who has recently become an online sensation for her role in the hit drama Sister; Hero, a feature film jointly helmed by three famous female Chinese directors, Sylvia Chang, Li Shaohong and Joan Chen; Schemes in Antiques" a mystery film co-starring Lei Jiayin; Dynasty Warriors, a live-action cinematic adaptation of a video game series; Hong Kong-set crime thriller Money Empire, which stars Louis Koo, Leung Ka Fai and Francis Ng; Tiger Robbers, a fantasy comedy co-starring popular comedian Ma Li; and Cliff Walkers, the first foray of renowned Chinese director Zhang Yimou into the spy genre.

May Day, also known as Labor Day, is observed on May 1 in China.

China's 2021 box office revenue has exceeded 20 billion yuan (about $3.07 billion) to date, almost equal to the total ticket sales for the whole of 2020, which slumped due to the COVID-19 epidemic.