"It is definitely related to the ongoing tensions with the U.S., and has been promoted that way — sometimes indirectly, but still very clearly," Dr. Stanley Rosen, a political scientist, predicted, according to BBC News.
It's a Chinese propaganda film about the 1950s Korean War, centred on a story of Chinese soldiers defeating American troops despite great odds, and is set to become China's highest-grossing film ever.
Lake Changjin depicts a brutal battle in freezing weather which the Chinese claim was a turning point in the Korean War - formally known in China as the "War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea".
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Part of the film's success is due to the lack of competition in Chinese theaters. Apparently, movies such as "Dune" and "No Time To Die," which are out now, have had their dates in China pushed back until the end of October.
"It's almost a patriotic duty to go see this film," Rosen adds.
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The film’s success is good news for China's pandemic-affected film sector as Covid forced cinemas to shut and reopen multiple times. It is even better news for the state, which experts say appears to have nailed a formula of making propaganda appeal to the masses.
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But for Hollywood looking in from the outside, the immense popularity of a local film like this could mean even more challenges ahead as it struggles to gain ground in China - the biggest film market in the world.
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Thus far, reviews of the film remain overall positive. Notably, a bad one could land someone in jail under Chinese Communist Party rule.
Thousands of young Chinese soldiers died at the titular lake to secure a crucial win against American forces.
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"I'm so moved by the soldiers' sacrifice. The weather was so extreme, but they managed to win. I feel so proud," a reviewer wrote of the Chinese-government sanctioned film.
Just last week, a former journalist, Luo Changping, was arrested after making disparaging comments about the soldiers depicted in the film.
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Sanya police report Changping was detained for "infringing the reputation and honour of national martyrs."
Commissioned by the Chinese government, The Battle At Lake Changjin is just one of several nationalist films which have become big commercial hits in China in recent years.
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In 2017, Wolf Warrior 2, a film about a Chinese soldier saving hundreds of people from baddies in an African warzone, raked in a record 1.6bn yuan ($238m; £181m) in just one week.
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Such propaganda films are often mandatory viewing for CCP cadres, said Dr Florian Schneider, director of the Netherlands' Leiden Asia Centre. "Work units frequently organise collective viewings, and with over 95 million card-holding members, that promises a significant box office boost," he told the BBC.