'Kung Fu Panda 3' has overtaken 'Monkey King: Hero Is Back' to become China's highest grossing animated film ever.

Both animation films along with smash hit 'The Mermaid' were released during the Chinese New Year holiday, with 'Kung Fu Panda 3' grossing 975 million Yuan ($149M) till date and 'Monkey King' collecting 956 million Yuan.

Like Us on Facebook

Film critics believe that owing to its strong fan base, the DreamWorks Animation and Oriental DreamWorks animated movie will continue its strong run in the coming weeks and remain ahead of its rival 'Monkey King.'

'Kung Fu Panda 3' was released both in Mandarin and in the English language. The Mandarin language version was released across China on January 28 and the English version was released in North America on January 29.

The movie enjoyed a bigger opening weekend in China than in the U.S. and Canada. Despite 'The Mermaid's' dominating performance at the box office, 'Kung Fu Panda' scored the highest opening by an animated film in its first weekend in China, collecting an impressive $57 million.

China also got a limited preview release of 'Kung Fu Panda' on January 23 ahead of its official relese, with the animation movie grossing a record 41.26 million Yuan in just three hour - setting a new preview record in China. Many believe that the movie would have grossed more money had China not faced harsh cold weather in January.

Looking back over the years, the 'Kung Fu Panda' franchise has grown impressively in the Chinese market. The movie's first sequel in 2008 collected $26 million, while the second installment in 2011 grossed $92 million.  

Tagskung fu panda 3