Chinese moviegoers spent Lunar New Year watching a propaganda film about the defeat of the US Army that has grossed over $200 million so far

A propaganda film about the defeat of US troops in a Korean War battle is topping the Lunar New Year box office in China.

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• "Water Gate Bridge" focuses on a battle with retreating US forces during the Korean War.
• The movie has grossed over 1.3 billion Chinese yuan ($204.4 billion) since its release on Tuesday.
• It's the sequel to "The Battle at Lake Changjin," China's highest-grossing movie ever.

A movie about the defeat of US troops is topping the charts in China over the country's week-long Lunar New Year break.

"Water Gate Bridge," also known as "The Battle at Lake Changjin II," opened on Tuesday to gross 667 million Chinese yuan ($105 million) in just one day. The movie has raked in over 1.3 billion Chinese yuan ($204.4 billion) so far this week, according to Maoyan, a Chinese ticketing app.

The film is the sequel to the "Battle at Lake Changjin," which hit the screens just before China's week-long National Day holiday in October and became China's highest-grossing movie ever, taking in $902 million. 

"The Battle at Lake Changjin" is a fictionalized account of the Battle of Chosin Reservoir between US and Chinese troops over November and December of 1950. It tells the story of a group of Chinese soldiers who forced US and allied forces to retreat from what is now China's border with North Korea.

The sequel focuses on a battle with the retreating US forces on a critical bridge.

Comedies usually dominate lunar New Year movie releases, and the rise of a so-called "main melody" film to the top of the charts this year is a new trend, said Zhang Rongdi, an analyst at Dengta, a box office data tracker run by Alibaba Pictures, per China's state-owned "Securities Times" newspaper last week. 

The "main melody" genre unique to China refers to patriotic propaganda content that praises the country, the Chinese Communist Party, and the military.

The record-breaking releases come as Beijing tightens its control over the film industry. Last year, authorities rolled out a five-year plan for its movie industry that includes producing films that show a "trustworthy, lovable, and respectable image of China."

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