China’s National Day box office was led by Chen Kaige’s war epic “The Volunteers: Peace at Last,” which opened at No. 1 during the Oct. 3–5 corridor as the market crossed the billion-yuan threshold for the holiday frame. State media tallies put the festival total above 1.1 billion yuan by Saturday evening, with “Peace at Last” identified as the current leader of the slate.
Industry tracking attributed an estimated RMB168.2 million (about $23.4 million) to the film over the Friday–Sunday period, positioning it ahead of rival domestic releases. The picture, produced by China Film Group, is the third chapter in Chen’s “Volunteers” trilogy and intercuts frontline combat with negotiations around the Korean War armistice.
The National Day window, which began Oct. 1 and runs eight days, traditionally favors patriotic and franchise-friendly titles, giving local distributors the year’s final major shot at scale. This season’s leaderboard has been rounded out by historical drama “Evil Unbound,” centered on Unit 731 atrocities, and fantasy sequel “A Writer’s Odyssey II,” both of which trailed the Chen film in daily rankings over the weekend.
Beyond the holiday snapshot, the market context is notable. Year-to-date grosses, including presales, have already surpassed the full-year 2024 total, with ticketing platform data showing the 2025 cumulative count reaching 42.5 billion yuan by Oct. 2. That rebound has been driven overwhelmingly by local productions, which account for the year’s top earners and the bulk of admissions.
“Peace at Last” caps a multi-year, multi-installment campaign around the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army narrative, with this final entry emphasizing both battlefield sacrifice and the diplomatic brinkmanship that preceded the armistice. Early momentum through the midpoint of the break suggests durable holiday play and a strong second-week hold if weekday traffic maintains pace.
