The film earned over one billion yuan (USD 160.5 million) at the box office to become the highest-grossing Chinese domestic film to date. The Chinese industry netted about USD 2.3 billion in the first ten months of last year.
The box office achievement even exceeded the money brought in by the 3D version of James Cameron's "Titanic", which made 935 million yuan (about USD 153 million) in Chinese theatres in 2012, earning the distinction of highest revenue earning imported film.
It's a miracle that over 30 million people went to watch the comedy in 21 days, state run Xinhua news agency reported today.
The relatively low-budget comedy follows the adventures of two rival Chinese businessmen and a simple-minded pancake maker in Thailand.
"Avatar" is the highest grossing film in China as it earned nearly 1.4 billion yuan in 2010.
Official statistics show that China's film industry earned 14.35 billion yuan at the box office from January to November 2012, with domestic films contributing to less than half of that revenue.
The other foreign movies which did well in Chinese markets last year included Ang Lee's "Life of Pi", which had Indian cast and content.
