Lee Min Ho's Bounty Hunters received a warm welcome in China, earning 9 billion won ($7.8 million) on its release date.

The action comedy film, which was released on July 1, was screened in 52,000 theaters across China, and nearly 27 percent of those tickets were reserved ahead of the opening.

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The film managed to draw in about 20.7 billion won ($17.3 million) in ticket sales between July 1 and 3.

"The local response has been really strong. Bounty Hunters topped the most-searched terms on Baidu and Weibo," production house Starhaus Entertainment said.

The film is sitting on the top spot of China's box office, beating, So I Married an Anti-fan, which stars EXO's Chanyeol, with only 23 million yuan ($3.45 million) on its opening day, Thursday.

Aside from Lee, the film also stars Wallace Chung, Tang Yan, and Tiffany Tang as well as other new faces like Karena Ng and Jeremy Jones.

Bounty Hunters, which is produced by China and Korea, is about a group of bounty hunters who are chasing wanted fugitives across different countries including China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand for a fee.

The bounty hunter team is composed of Lee as the brawn, Chung the trickster, Tang Tang the brains, and Karena the wunderkind hacker.

Fans have high expectations for the film after its scheduled launch was postponed because producers needed to add some finishing touches.

Bounty Hunters is scheduled to be released in other countries including Australia, England, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

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TagsLee Min Ho, Bounty Hunters, China box office, So I Married an Anti-fan, Starhaus Entertainment