The much-anticipated sequel to China's highest-grossing film of all time, "The Battle at Lake Changjin," will hit Chinese screens during Spring Festival, the most profitable film season, its producer announced on Jan. 13.

The sequel will star the original cast and crew, including three legendary Chinese directors – Chen Kaige, Tsui Hark, and Dante Lam, producers Huang Jianxin and Yu Dong, as well as the iconic cast members Wu Jing and Jackson Yee. Meanwhile, the plot of "The Battle at Lake Changjin II" will pick up where its record-breaking predecessor left off, to tell more heroic stories and the final fate of the Chinese soldiers in their journey after the epic battle at Lake Changjin. 

The leading actor, Wu Jing, had previously spoken of how hard and cold it was for the actors on the set of the film, boasting the sequel will be colder, crueler, more passionate, and more explosive. He even called the first, a box office juggernaut, as the "longest movie trailer of all time" for "The Battle at Lake Changjin II."

"The Battle at Lake Changjin" was nearly three hours long and grossed more than 5.77 billion yuan ($906 million) from 124 million admissions in 2021, becoming the biggest film of the year as well as the biggest film of all time in China.

"'The Battle at Lake Changjin' is just the prelude of the battle, and you will see more soldiers make great sacrifice to protect our homes and defend our country in the sequel," Wu said. "During the season for family reunions, when you walk out of cinema you will cherish the peace and life we have today thanks to those martyrs who dedicated their lives for us. We made this film with our utmost respect for them," Wu said.  

Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Film Group and the film's producer, said that the film business suffered a huge blow during the 2020 Spring Festival after being completely suspended due to COVID-19. Then, during the 2021 Spring Festival, his company and the cast and crew started on the two installments of "The Battle at Lake Changjin" to help boost the recovering Chinese film industry. The sequel to debut in the 2022 Spring Festival will definitely further empower Chinese film market and provide a gift to audiences. 

"The sequel has been comprehensively upgraded, with more powerful stories and stronger emotion," Yu continued. "As Chinese filmmakers, we will deliver the greatest hope for the Chinese all around the world with the strongest blockbuster on the most special day," he said, adding he hoped the spirit of the martyrs will inspire the Chinese people to walk on into the new year, and be unstoppable in their new journeys.

Over the years, Spring Festival has become China's most heated and lucrative film season, and "The Battle at Lake Changjin II" is likely to make new box office records. It will rival "Snipers," another war film, by Zhang Yimou and his daughter Zhang Mo; Wen Muye's drama "Nice View" also starring Jackson Yee; Han Han's comedy-drama "Only Fools Rush In"; Xing Wenxiong's comedy "Too Cool to Kill"; and several animated films for younger audiences, including "Boonie Bears: Back to Earth," "Dunk for Future," and "Run, Tiger Run!"

Just days before a release date was announced for "The Battle at Lake Changjin II," the most-anticipated film for Spring Festival was sci-fi comedy "Super Family," however, it pulled its release, citing post-production delays, along with several other smaller films originally scheduled for Spring Festival releases. Some observers wondered whether they were in fact canceled out of a fear of going up against "The Battle at Lake Changjin II."

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