Chinese crime suspense film "Under the Light" opens in North American theaters

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- "Under the Light," a Chinese crime suspense film by renowned director Zhang Yimou, opened Thursday in a limited theatrical release in North America.

The film is being released by CMC Pictures in Mandarin with English subtitles in nearly 100 selected theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston, Dallas, Phoenix, Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and a few other North American cities with a large overseas Chinese population.

The film, with a stellar cast of award-winning actors such as Lei Jiayin, Zhang Guoli and Yu Hewei, follows a corruption case in which a municipal official colludes with a businessman in money laundering, murder and other crimes.

"Under the Light" led China's box office chart during the eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday that ended on Oct. 6, one of the most lucrative period for the country's film market. The film has earned over 1.21 billion yuan (about 165 million U.S. dollars) after 23 days in the Chinese mainland, according to Maoyan, a Chinese movie-ticketing and film data platform.

"Under the Light" has received positive feedback from Chinese moviegoers with a rating of 9.1 points out of 10 from over 138,000 viewers on the Maoyan platform.