The Battle at Lake Changjin made over $633m at the box office in just two weeks [Source: BBC]

The biggest movie in the world right now is not the latest Bond film No Time To Die or even Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

It’s a Chinese propaganda film about the 1950s Korean War, centred on a story of Chinese soldiers defeating American troops despite great odds.

In just two weeks since its release, The Battle at Lake Changjin has made over $633m (£463m) at the box office. This puts it far ahead of Shang-Chi’s global earnings of $402m, and in just half the time.

It is set to become China’s highest-grossing film ever.

Its success is good news for China’s pandemic-affected film sector as Covid forced cinemas to shut and reopen multiple times.

It is even better news for the state, which experts say appears to have nailed a formula of making propaganda appeal to the masses.

Commissioned by the Chinese government, The Battle At Lake Changjin is just one of several nationalist films which have become big commercial hits in China in recent years.

In 2017, Wolf Warrior 2, about a Chinese soldier saving hundreds of people from baddies in an African warzone, raked in a record 1.6bn yuan ($238m; £181m) in just one week.

Lake Changjin depicts a brutal battle in freezing weather which the Chinese claim was a turning point in the Korean War – formally known in China as the “War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea”.

Thousands of young Chinese soldiers died at the titular lake to secure a crucial win against American forces.

“I’m so moved by the soldiers’ sacrifice. The weather was so extreme, but they managed to win. I feel so proud,” an audience member wrote on reviews site Douban.

It is no coincidence that the film’s popularity comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“It is definitely related to the ongoing tensions with the US, and has been promoted that way – sometimes indirectly, but still very clearly,” said Dr Stanley Rosen, a political science professor from the University of Southern California.

Another reason behind its success is the co-ordinated push between film studios and the authorities, which tightly control the number and types of films that can be distributed at any one time.

At the moment, Battle At Lake Changjin has little competition in theatres. Major Hollywood blockbusters No Time To Die and Dune will only open in China at the end of October, despite already showing elsewhere.

This film was also particularly well-timed – not only did it open during China’s National Day holidays starting 1 October, it comes as the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.

“It’s almost a patriotic duty to go see this film,” said Dr Rosen.