Chinese moviegoers spent Lunar New Year watching a propaganda film about the defeat of the US Army that has grossed over $200 million so far

• "Water Gate Bridge" focuses on a battle with retreating US forces during the Korean War.
• The movie has grossed over 1.3 billion Chinese yuan ($204.4 billion) since its release on Tuesday.

A movie about the defeat of US troops is topping the charts in China over the country's week-long Lunar New Year break.

"Water Gate Bridge," also known as $4 opened on Tuesday to gross 667 million Chinese yuan ($105 million) in just one day. The movie has raked in over 1.3 billion Chinese yuan ($204.4 billion) so far this week, according to $4 a Chinese ticketing app.

The film is the sequel to the $4 which hit the screens just before China's week-long National Day holiday in October and became China's highest-grossing movie ever, taking in $902 million.

"The Battle at Lake Changjin" is a fictionalized account of the $4 between US and Chinese troops over November and December of 1950. It tells the story of a group of Chinese soldiers who forced US and allied forces to retreat from what is now China's border with North Korea.

The sequel focuses on a battle with the retreating US forces on a critical bridge.

Comedies usually dominate lunar New Year movie releases, and the rise of a so-called $4 film to the top of the charts this year is a new trend, said Zhang Rongdi, an analyst at Dengta, a box office data tracker run by Alibaba Pictures, per China's state-owned $4 newspaper last week.

The "main melody" genre unique to China refers to patriotic propaganda content that praises the country, the Chinese Communist Party, and the military.

The record-breaking releases come as Beijing tightens its control over the film industry. Last year, authorities rolled out a $4 for its movie industry that includes producing films that show a "trustworthy, lovable, and respectable image of China."