As expected, "Journey to the West: Demon Chapter" made the most of the Chinese new year holidays, as it minted staggering money at the Chinese box office during the first weekend of its screening.

The movie that brought together two legendry Chinese film makers - Tsui Hark as director and Stephen Chow as producer - collected $50.6 from over 100,000 screenings on Saturday. This was followed by $31.4 million clocked on Sunday from over from 90,000 screenings.

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Thanks to these impressive figures, "Journey to the West: Demon Chapter" or "Journey 2" broke the Chinese record for a single day collection, overtaking the record set by The Mermaid during last year's Chinese New Year.    

The Journey 2's performance at the IMAX theatre was equally resounding, clocking an impressive $4.5 million from 390 screens on Saturday, which is another Chinese record.

The movie is a sequel of the 2013 hit movie "Journey to the West," directed by The Mermaid fame Stephen Chow. Both the original movie as well as the sequel movie is based on the classic Chinese literature.

The two other big releases, Buddies in India and Jackie Chan starrer Kung Fu Yoga, also opened big as they managed to cash on the Lunar New Year holidays. But their box office numbers were far below the Journey 2.

The Chinese box office usually roars back to life during the Chinese New Year, as thousands rush to cinema to make most of the holiday season. Not season, the year's biggest movies are released during this time of the year.

Last year, China collected mammoth $548 million during the Chinese New Year holiday, the highest one-week total ever achieved by a single region.

TagsJourney to the West 2, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons 2, Chinese New Year, Chinese box office