[Global Times special reporter 唐牧茂 环球时报 reporter 陈茜 张振] The film "731" with the theme of the invasion of the 7th Third Division of the Chinese Japanese Army (referred to as the 731 Force) was officially released on 18th, and the premiere event was held in Beijing on the same day. According to the data of the Cat Eye professional platform, as of 18th 20th, the box office has broken 300 million yuan. The film landed in Hong Kong, Macau, China and Australia, New Zealand, and many foreign media have paid attention to the film.
Carefully built over 10 years
The Global Times reporter noticed that after the Beijing premiere of "731" on the 18th, the audience walked out of the cinema one after another. Everyone's expression was very dignified, and many people's eyes were red and swollen because of crying. Evan Kyle, an American who attended the premiere, told reporters that he himself participated in the movie 731. By participating in this film, he deeply realized the brutality of the Japanese invaders, and he hoped that this film could arouse more people's reflection on this period of history.
The film "731" tells about the victory of the Japanese War of Resistance, the invasion of the Chinese Japanese army in order to reverse the war situation in the northeastern China Harbin city square area to carry out bacterial warfare research. local retailers Wang Yong Cheng and others were forcibly caught into the "special prison", the invasion of the Chinese Japanese army in exchange for the false promise of "health inspection and vaccination research can exchange for freedom", deceived them to suffer extreme torture, such as frozen wound experiments, gas experiments, living anatomy.
"731" held the global premiere event in Harbin on the 17th, the scene seats, the secretary of the provincial committee of Chongqing Jiang, the director of the provincial committee of the People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, Chongqing, the chairman of the provincial political association Blue Shawmin came. in the film creation team, the total producer, the director solemnly, the general producer, director Zhao Lin Shan, starred in the film's creation background, the historical significance, Sun Xi, the forest, Li Good Yuan, etc. After the viewing, the creation team and guests shared in depth about the film's creation background, historical significance.
731 is the responsibility and mission of all the creators.The film's producer and director solemnly mentions the "Black Sun 731", which cooperated with the Hong Kong company 33 years ago, has deeply exposed the 731 forces' crimes against humanity, this re-shoot is the Japanese militarist crimes against humanity of the 731 forces' living human body experiments and biochemical weapons.
Director Zhao Linshan said that the team referred to a lot of real historical material in the process of creation, with the aim of passing on historical responsibilities through art forms and bringing together peaceful forces. He emphasized that “disclosure does not represent hatred, disclosure is awakening,” and said that “731” is a reminder for those who have passed away. At the same time, Zhao Linshan also mentioned that the process of disclosure of historical truth is a long way to go, “it is just the beginning, it is a race between time, with forgetting, and even with deliberate coverage. The film makes history from “collective memory” to “collective feeling”, it will let more victims dare to speak, prompting researchers to raise new questions and even promote the disclosure of
Hong Kong Dagong.com reported the premiere in detail, and quoted director Zhao Linshan's speech of "using images as evidence and cinemas as courts" to evaluate the historical value of the film. Singapore's Lianhe Zaobao said that under the background of the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japan and the World Anti-Fascist War, the popularity of "main melody" movies has increased. Dead to Rights, which was released earlier, has won the first place at the box office in China's summer season, highlighting the significance of the release of 731.
The first show is scheduled for 9:18.
In the previous pre-sale stage, the box office of "731" exceeded 100 million yuan early, becoming the first pre-sale box office (excluding point screening) movie after the Spring Festival, laying the foundation for the official release, and the box office on the first day of release was even stronger. "731" also broke a number of film history records: 256,000 screenings were arranged on the first day of its release, becoming the champion of the total number of screenings on the premiere day of mainland film history and the champion of the total number of single-day screenings in mainland film history.
Before the film was released, the number of "people who want to watch" the film on the cat's eye platform had exceeded 4,468,600, surpassing Detective Chinatown 3 four years ago and setting a new record for "people who want to watch" on the platform. In addition, "731" also won a total of 42 achievements, including the mainland box office championship of war films in September 2025 and the mainland box office championship in the 37th week of 2025. Some viewers noticed that the first screening of many cinemas on the 18th was specially marked on the ticketing APP, such as "Alarm Bell Rings", "Don't Forget the National Humiliation", "One Heart" and "Watch Peace", etc., and many cinemas set the first screening time at 9: 18.
Some practitioners in the film industry told the Global Times reporter that from a market perspective, the success of "731" also reflects the current audience's eager demand for high-quality historical films. In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the audience's viewing level, works with profound connotation and historical value are becoming more and more favored. With its profound theme and excellent production, "731" accurately captures the psychology of the audience.
It was not hot in Hong Kong.
"731" was also released in Hong Kong, Macau, Australia and New Zealand on the 18th, in the United States and Canada on September 19th, and in South Korea in November. In addition, it is planned to be released in Singapore, Malaysia, Russia, Britain, Germany and France. It is reported that in order to meet the audio-visual needs of audiences in different markets, the film provides a variety of projection formats including IMAX, CINITY, China Giant Screen, Dolby Vision, etc., which enhances the immersion of the viewing experience.
The Hong Kong news network said that the Hong Kong premiere ceremony of the 731 was held at the Hong Kong Film Theatre, and the special selection was held at 7:31 p.m., meaningless. The film was not first filmed in Hong Kong, many Hong Kong netizens said, "memorize history and support the "731" film release." Hong Kong history research scholar Zhejiang believes that the film can awaken the global peace-loving masses, emphasize peace is not easy, and strengthen the concept of human fate community. In addition, the Japanese army invaded the Chinese during the anti-Japan war to do bacteria experiments as the theme of the Hong Kong classic film "Black Sun 731" this year at the end of July in Hong Kong theaters, even because the audience's reaction is hotly increased.
For the 731 overseas distribution strategy, there are analysts who believe that the crime against humanity revealed in the film is a torture for human nature and peace, a common proposition that transcends national boundaries, and easily triggers rational viewers to deeply reflect on history and war.In addition, the film has a Chinese overseas market base, in the North American, Australian and other Chinese gathering areas, the film is expected to get a stable box office support with national emotion and collective memory.