As of 3 pm Wednesday, summer movie season box office sales in the Chinese mainland have exceeded 9 billion yuan (about $1.25 billion), including pre-sales, according to Lighthouse, a film industry data platform.

The wartime movie Dead To Rights currently tops the box office chart with 2.34 billion yuan. The film premiered on July 25 to both critical and commercial success.

In second place is The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain, a screwball comedy that satirizes reality using characters from Journey to the West, earning about 695 million yuan at the box office. The Lychee Road adapted from Ma Boyong's popular novel, ranks third with over 667 million yuan. Universal's Jurassic World Rebirth and Chinese animation The Legend of Luoxiaohei - Season 2 take the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Industry experts attribute the summer box office boom to the strong word-of-mouth performance of high-quality films, which has significantly boosted audience enthusiasm and led to multiple rebounds in overall ticket sales.

Both Dead To Rights and The Legend of Luoxiaohei - Season 2 hold impressive scores of 8.7 on Douban, while The Little Monsters of Langlang Mountain scores 8.6. The Stage a comedy directed by and starring veteran comedian Chen Peisi, ranks eighth with a solid 8.0 rating.