Slew of quality imports to hit cinemas

After a sales surge in February, the Chinese box office is expected to continue its momentum in March, boosted by the release of a slew of quality imports, with Marvel Studios' latest superhero film Black Panther being one of the most anticipated offerings.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, the blockbuster stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther who returns home as king of the fictional African country Wakanda to find his sovereignty challenged by a longtime adversary in a conflict that leads to global consequences.

The 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which premiered on the Chinese mainland on March 9, has raked in more than 470 million yuan ($74.4 million).

Pacific Rim: Uprising is due to hit Chinese screens on March 23. Hoping to ride the momentum created by the 2013's Pacific Rim, which raked in nearly 700 million yuan on the main-land, the sequel casts John Boyega and Scott Eastwood as well as several Chinese stars like actress Jing Tian.

Tomb Raider, the new Lara Croft film is set to arrive in Chinese cinemas on Friday. Despite its brand recognition, the movie's fan base is not as broad as the one enjoyed by the Marvel and Pacific Rim series in China. However, the participation of Chinese-American film star Daniel Wu could help to change this and boost its popularity domestically.

While Hollywood big-budget action films are likely to accelerate China's box-office boom, Chinese moviegoers will also have the chance to catch some of this year's Oscar winners.

Aside from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, the winner of best actress and best supporting actor awards which has been released in China on March 2, The Shape of Water－which won the best picture and three other Oscar awards－will debut on Chinese screens on Friday.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri had pocketed nearly 47 million yuan in China as of Tuesday.

Chinese moviegoers will have a diverse range of films to choose from this month, as movies from other Asian countries come up for release in March.

Indian film Bajrangi Bhaijaan starring Salman Khan has earned more than 182 million yuan since its release on March 2. It scored 8.6 points on Douban.

Japanese comedy Mix arrived in Chinese cinemas on March 9. Japanese actress Yui Aragaki enjoys tremendous online popularity in China and her role in the movie is likely to attract a considerable number of Chinese film fans.