China just kicked off the most competitive season for the film market of the year, starting October the 1st.

More than 10 films squeezed into the October screening schedule, pushing box office receipts to 280 million yuan on the first of October alone.That is about 42 million US dollars. The total box office over the past golden week holiday is estimated to be 210 million US dollars.

The absence of Hollywood blockbusters is making October a battlefield for Chinese productions. The most popular genres are crime thriller, fantasy and, you guessed it, rom-com.

A crime thriller based on a true cross-border drugs and murder investigation gave the genre a new surge of popularity in China. But adaptations continues to dominate Chinese production.