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The blockbuster Chinese war epic film The Eight Hundred debuted on Friday, expecting to bring a long-awaited boost to China’s ailing film industry and save a renowned listed Chinese film company that had suffered great loss.

The film is expected to bring a huge amount of revenue to the Chinese domestic box office after months of cinema closures, industry insiders told the Global Times.

It has so far grossed more than 78.4 million yuan ($11.4 million) as of 5:00 pm on Friday, contributing 85.2 percent of the day’s total box office, with 57.5-percent of screening arrangements showing the film, according to statistics by movie ticketing platform Maoyan.

The movie’s market performance had brought China’s listed film companies some good news. Huayi Brothers, which co-produced the film and reportedly lost nearly 4 billion yuan in 2019, enjoyed a 24 percent increase from August 1 to 20, observers said. Several of its peers have also experienced consecutive days of growth.

Directed by Guan Hu, The Eight Hundred depicts Chinese soldiers’ four-day defense of a warehouse against the invading Japanese army during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, regarded as one of the most “tragic” battles faced by Chinese people in World War II.

The film, with a production budget of 700 million yuan, is the first “real blockbuster” screened at Chinese cinemas, which reopened in July after the epidemic situation had improved domestically, said movie critic and film producer Tan Fei.

Tan said the film will ignite people’s enthusiasm to buy a ticket and experience the longlost feeling of sitting at an “actual” cinema with its A-list cast and high production quality.

“Moreover, the film is particularly opportunistic as it shows China’s national spirit of ‘rising up’ to difficulties with perseverance and courage, echoing that Chinese people will spare no effort in the fight against the virus,” Tan told the Global Times on Friday.

Tan predicts the film’s total box office will surpass 2 billion yuan based on current viruscontrol regulations, which requires theaters to ensure the size of their audiences does not exceed 50 percent of their normal capacity.