Promotional material for 1921 Inset: Moviegoers line up to watch a prescreening of 1921 in Shanghai on Friday. Photos: Courtesy of Maoyan/VCG

Historical films have kicked off the summer movie season of 2021 and will continue leading in the box office ranking in the Chinese mainland driven by growing interests among young movie-goers in the history of the Communist Party of China (CPC). 

Two films - 1921 and The Pioneer - released on July 1 topped the box office ranking over the past week, with combined ticket sales exceeding $67.56 million as of press time, according to Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan on Wednesday. 

Historical films and animated films will be the major drivers for the box office of this summer movie season, a Chinese film industry insider based in Beijing told the Global Times on Wednesday.  

The historical movie 1921, which tells the story of a group of Chinese youth gathering in Shanghai to establish the CPC on July 1, 1921, has dominated China's box office since it has been released. Ticket sales had reached 347 million yuan ($53.65 million) as of press time, according to Maoyan. 

The Pioneer, a Chinese biographical historical film, recounts the story of pioneer Li Dazhao, who was one of the key founders of the CPC. It ranked second with ticket sales of more than 90 million yuan as of press time. 

More than 210,000 people have expressed interest on ticketing platform Taopiaopiao in watching Chinese Doctors, which is expected to hit theaters on Friday. This film depicts Chinese medical workers fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province. 

Mainstream films such as 1921 and Chinese Doctors have cast more outstanding and popular young actors, who have attracted more young movie-goers and sparked an increase in the box office for mainstream films, said the industry insider, adding that such a trend is also a great way to educate younger generations about the history behind the films. 

During this year's summer movie season, five mainstream films are expected to be shown in theaters, the paper.cn reported on Thursday, adding that 46 films have set release dates for the summer, and another 10 films might come out in July or August but have not set fixed dates.