'Dying to Survive,' a Chinese black comedy topped the weekend box office in China. Weeks later, it is still dominating the box office despite the release of new movies like 'Hidden Man' and 'Asura.'
Just two days after it was released, 'Dying to Survive' already grossed over $36.14 million and two weeks, ticket sales for the comedic film surged up to $138 million or 920 million yuan. It was so unexpected but it was a blockbuster hit indeed.
Moreover, as reported on Variety, the movie raked in $68.5 million and this was the highest gross in ticket sales outside North America. The numbers also placed 'Dying to Survive' in second place as the highest, globally.
When the said Chinese film premiered on June 19, its producers, Ning Hao and Xu Zheng made a pledge to donate 2 million yuan to charities that help leukemia patients. They added that they want to continue with the donation so for every 100 million yuan that 'Dying to Survive' will earn, they will be giving away 300,000 yuan.
The overwhelming box office results, plus the five-star reviews given by various Chinese groups and movie critics, led analysts to predict that 'Dying to Survive' will go over the 4 billion yuan mark and eventually become the second highest-earning movie in China.
'Dying to Survive' is a realistic film about a shop owner whose name is Cheng Yong. He started to sell cancer medicines at cheaper prices after an Indian supplier visited his shop. He himself is suffering from leukemia so he knows how expensive the medicines are.
Later, he spread the word to fellow cancer patients and in no time, he gained lots of customers and they were so grateful to have found alternatives to pricey cancer drugs. Cheng Yong sources his supplies from India but one day, he was busted for the illegal business.
'Dying to Survive' is a true-to-life story of Lu Yong and his story began in 2015. He is a leukemia patient who smuggled unapproved medicines from India so he can sell them to other cancer patients at an affordable price.
Lu Yong was apprehended by the police and his case was brought to court. However, he was eventually set free after his case was dismissed. His customers played a big role with the dismissal of his case as they voiced out how Lu helped them survive and demanded his release, Straits Times reported.
The incident prompted the Chinese government to act on expensive cancer medicines. As a result, drugs were made more affordable and easier to obtain cancer medicines more accessible and affordable.
