In just three days, Gezhi Town, the latest film starring pop idol Xiao Zhan, has raked in over 180 million yuan ($25.5 million), soaring to become the highest-grossing Chinese blockbuster over the weekend.

The movie marks the first theatrical release by Daylight Entertainment, a leading company in television drama production known for phenomenal hits such as Nirvana in Fire (2015) and Minning Town (2021).

Written by Lan Xiaolong and directed by Kong Sheng, with Hou Hongliang serving as chief producer — a creative trio widely regarded in the TV industry as a guarantee of popular success — the film also features a stellar cast including actors Peng Yuchang and Zhou Yiran.

Set during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), the story centers on Mo Dexian, played by Xiao, a factory mechanic who takes refuge with his family in a mountainous town in Yichang, Hubei province, after their hometown of Nanjing falls to Japanese invaders. The family eventually settles in the town alongside a forgotten anti-aircraft gun commander and his remaining crew.

However, the peaceful life Mo has built with his wife and son is shattered by the unexpected arrival of a squad of Japanese scouts. Faced with the threat, the townspeople refuse to back down. United by courage and ingenuity, they rise to desperately defend their home.

The film began shooting in Yichang in July 2024 and completed production about four months later, with locations spanning several mountainous villages, as the crew aimed to faithfully re-create the atmosphere of a small town in southern China during wartime, according to the producers.