"As a movie buff, homegrown films released during the Dragon Boat Festival did not let me down, especially the crime thriller Lost in the Stars," he said, adding that he also watched another Chinese movie, Love Never Ends, which tells the story of two lonely, impoverished elderly lovers at the end of their lives.

The Wandering Earth II, the sequel to the titular sci-fi epic based on Hugo Award-winning writer Liu Cixin's novella of the same name, secured the second slot on the box office charts, followed by the crime thriller No More Bets, inspired by the many real-life cases involving cyber scams in Southeast Asia.

Leading the chart is the suspense thriller "Lost in the Stars," which is about a woman disappearing on an overseas trip.

The suspense thriller "Lost in the Stars" leads the chart, followed by the crime drama "No More Bets," the sports movie "Never Say Never," the fantasy epic "Creation of the Gods I: Kingdom of Storms," the animated feature "Chang An," and comedy-drama "One and Only.

With its gripping plot twists and the resonating theme of not letting love cloud one's judgment, the crime thriller, which hit cinemas on June 22, has raked in 3.5 billion yuan to become the third highest-grossing film this year.

Having raked in 3.5 billion yuan till now, Lost in the Stars — a crime thriller that follows the story of a man searching for his missing wife during an overseas trip — has been on top of the summer season charts with its storyline provoking deep contemplation about marriage and female friendship.

While American titles, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," continue to hold the top two spots on China's summer box office chart, with earnings of 303 million yuan and 250 million yuan to date, respectively, a number of major Chinese titles are set to land on the big screen later this month, including crime thriller "Lost in the Stars" and romantic drama "Love Never Ends.

U. S. animated adventure "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" ranked second with 71 million yuan, followed by domestic crime thriller "Are You Lonesome Tonight? "

Crime thriller "Home Sweet Home" ranks third with about 5 million yuan.

"Three other movies are also high in the charts: the Hong Kong-based 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 "Break Through the Darkness," a crime action tentpole telling the story of China's fight against organized crime.

Romantic comedy "Warm Hug" and crime thriller "Shock Wave 2," both domestic productions, accounted for around 20 percent and 18 percent of the box office total from Jan 1 to 26, respectively.

Coming in second was the crime thriller hit Shock Wave 2, which generated 21.26 million yuan on Saturday.